Ember Canty shuts down a Moose break away with a block on Friday night in Alamosa. Canty tied for second in scoring on the Falcons with 8 points.

ALAMOSA— Alamosa’s boys and Centauri’s girls both added another notch to their win columns in an IML showdown on Friday night. The third ranked Centauri girls have been the measuring stick by which other teams in the valley are judged. Not whether they can beat the Falcons, but how close can they get. And it’s to see why since they have stayed perfect through three months of play. Alamosa’s girls entered Friday as winners of three of their last four and were beginning to find their rhythm.

Both teams started the game by slowly dipping their toes in. Centauri was buoyed by Alyssa Gomez early, who with two buckets and a free throw owned all five of the first quarter points for the Falcons. Gomez would go on to tie for second on the team in scoring with Ember Canty both girls collecting 8 points. On the other side it was Emily Motz who’s one free throw put Alamosa on the board for a 5-1 game after one quarter of play.  

Centauri would put together some offense in the second and third quarters enough to space themselves from Alamosa and open the final quarter with a 31-17 game. In the final stanza is where the Moose would bull their way back, out scoring Centauri 10-8 in the last quarter. The Falcon’s lead was unbuffered however and Centauri scrawled another notch in the ‘W’ column with a 39-27 finish. Sylvie Caton hit on 5 of nine of her free throw attempts and led the Mean Moose with 10 points. Caroline Van Berkum paced her Falcons with 9 points hitting on 50 percent of her shots from the free throw line.

Ian Jackson (24) takes a two handed approach to the net on in Fridays victory over Centauri. Jackson picked up 13 points as Alamosa kept their run alive. (Photos courtesy of Vibrant Valley Photography)

The top ranked Alamosa boys have also built an impressive body of work this basketball season only falling to one team while knocking off Kent Denver who placed number five in the rankings. Centauri’s boys are trying to carve out their own piece of the pie while working their way up the rankings. For Centauri a victory in Friday’s contest against Alamosa would have gone a long way towards lifting them up.

By the half Centauri had battled their way to a 20-19 lead with Nate Anderson fueling the charge with 13 points. Anderson would close his day with 19 points to lead the Falcons. The Mean Moose, as is becoming a habit, came out of the locker room with fire in their bellies. They would eclipse  Centauri 17-7 in the third stanza to open the final quarter with a 36-27 lead.

Ry Adams who had been held to just three points in the first half found some open space in the second half. Adams would put up 14 of his team leading 17 points in the second half to propel Alamosa to the 55-41 conclusion tacking on their ninth win of the season.  Ian Jackson stepped up on a night that Centauri was clearly ready for the Moose and tallied 13 points off the bench.