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Oilers top Panthers for 100th straight win

It was not a milestone the Concordia Panthers wanted to be a part of.
Central Plains, winners of five straight Class 2A state championships, posted its 100th consecutive victory by downing Concordia 72-25 Saturday afternoon in the Concordia Junior-Senior High School gymnasium.
Ellinwood was the last team to defeat Central Plains back in 2015.
The Oilers, ranked number one in Class 1A, have gone unbeaten in each of the last two plus seasons. They are closing in on the state record of consecutive wins of 107 set by Hoxie  from 2011-16.
“They are very impressive on both ends of the floor,” Concordia coach Michael Wahlmeier said.
Central Plains set the tone early with aggressive defense.
The Oilers, applying full-court pressure, forced four quick Concordia turnovers and jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the game.
Concordia would turn the ball over 15 times in the first quarter alone, and Central Plains scored 33 points off turnovers in the first half.
“They can dig that ball out without fouling. They have quick hands, they get a lot of deflections. They just wreak havoc on what you want to do,” Wahlmeier said.
Concordia’s first basket came on a jumper by Terin Rundus nearly five minutes into the game.
The Panthers (3-12) answered a basket by Emily Ryan with a jumper by Chloe Conway, and trailed 15-4.
A three-point play by Ryan started a 13-0 run by Central Plains that made it a 28-4 game going into the second quarter.
“We had some deer in the headlights,” Wahlmeier said, “I think we adjusted to it being a physical game, but not quick enough.”
A three-point basket by Katlynn Miller 11 seconds into the second period left Concordia trailing 28-7.
Ryan, who scored 18 of her 30 points in the first half, knocked down back to back threes to stretch Central Plains’ lead to 34-7.
The Oilers then made six of eight free throws in a span of 1:26, and led 40-7.
Concordia got another three by Miller, but Central Plains scored eight straight points.
Kendall Reynolds was fouled as time ran out in the first half. The sophomore made both free throws, and Concordia was down 48-12 at halftime.
Reynolds led the Panthers with 10 points.
With Reynolds scoring five points, the Panthers found some offensive rhythm early in the second half, but couldn’t keep pace with the Oilers.
It was a 52-17 game when Reynolds hit a three.
Ryan made two threes during a 10-0 spurt by Central Plains.
The Oilers were up 66-20 going into the fourth quarter.
With a running clock, Central Plains scored six points in the final period to five for Concordia.
“We did some positive things,” Wahlmeier said, “We had some positives on defense.”
Miller, knocking down three threes, scored nine points for the Panthers.
Delany Rugan scored 10 points for Central Plains.
Concordia will play its final road game of the regular season at Riley County on Tuesday night.

 

Concordia Blade-Empire

510 Washington St.
Concordia, KS 66901