Panthers Claim District Title

April 11, 2011

By Ryan Kennedy of Centralia High School


We all knew that district seven would be a good one.  The surprise was how good this Panther Quiz Bowl team would turn out to be.

On April 9th the Panthers went to Hallsville to compete in the class three, district seven tournament.  The team consisted of seniors Sean Brix, Bobby Houston, Michael Mahieu, and Aaron Seider, and juniors Chelsea Griffin, Donna Jennings, and Quinton Miller.

The day started off against Montgomery County, who won their district in 2010 and then found themselves redistricted to district seven.  Centralia initiated the Wildcats; behind Aaron’s 18 toss-ups, the Panthers won this one 470-120.

Next up was another district seven newcomer: Mexico.  This former class four school had already beaten the district’s defending champion, Southern Boone, but the Panthers would be a different story. Centralia won 530-200.

The final preliminary round was against district host Hallsville.  The Panthers weren’t intimidated by the home field advantage, however, as Centralia went on to win this one 440-250, with Aaron putting up 15 and Chelsea putting up 8 toss-ups.

The 3-0 preliminaries put Centralia in first place going into the semifinals. This meant a rematch with Mexico.  It was closer than before, but the Panthers still came out on the winning side, 480-190.

It was then time for the Panthers’ first district title game since 2008. With four of the seven players looking at what was potentially their last match, the tension was high.  The opponent, Fulton, was statistically as close to Centralia as anyone the Panthers had faced this season.

The tension didn’t go away quickly, as Fulton and Centralia swapped the lead several times in the first quarter, and the period ended with a 60-60 tie.  Centralia did what it does, however, by taking over the second quarter to lead 250-100 at the half.  Even then, it wasn’t a comfortable lead, but the third quarter would change that.  The Panthers ripped off 110 points in the quarter to take a 360-130 lead into the final period.  The Panthers put it away in the fourth to win the district title 510-210.

The Panthers now move on to sectionals. Those matches will be at Centralia against Osage on April 14th, starting at 5:00.