Centennial girls basketball, Cici Ajomale, Nation Williams dominate

Centennial’s girls basketball team could have gone down a checklist to tick off all the good things it accomplished Wednesday night at Arbor View.

Dominate the glass: check.

Shoot better than 50 percent from the field: check.

Force a ton of turnovers and turn that defense into offense: check.

Showcase one of the top freshmen in the country: check.

Leave coach Karen Weitz with a postgame smile: maybe next time.

Weitz may not have been completely happy, but the Bulldogs, No. 2 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, placed four players in double figures and forced 29 turnovers as they rolled to a 92-29 road win over the Aggies.

“We can’t keep waiting for somebody to get things going,” Weitz said of her team’s somewhat sluggish start. “Kids anymore just kind of pitter-pat around the game. They don’t want to be the one. They don’t want to get things going. Be the one to set the tone, be the one to set the pace.”

Centennial (9-4, 4-0 Class 5A Southern League), which has won eight straight state titles, led 40-19 at the half, but Weitz clearly wasn’t pleased with the team’s 12 first-half turnovers or the intensity the group showed in the first two quarters. And she burned two timeouts in the first 59 seconds of the third quarter to try to light a fire under the team.

It seemed to work, as the Bulldogs scored 23 points off turnovers in the second half to pull away. Senior Jada Price scored 12 of her 22 points after halftime to help lead the surge.

“Jada’s definitely one of those seniors that you trust,” Weitz said. “You like to have her on the floor. She always wants to compete. She always wants us to win, and she wants to do good things for the team. There’s just kids like that, that you know in your heart are there for the best of the program. And that’s definitely Jada.”

Price added seven rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Bulldogs, who opened the second half on a 24-3 run. Centennial won the rebounding battle 43-22 over Arbor View (5-8, 2-4).

“Halftime in the locker room we all just kind of talked to each other, picked each other up,” Price said. “And we’re preparing for these next big games coming up. And the second half is how we have to play all four quarters. That’s how we play; that’s what we do. That intensity on 110 every time.”

Centennial faces No. 1 Bishop Gorman at the Big City Showdown on Saturday at Coronado.

Weitz also was pleased with the performance of senior Cici Ajomale, who just returned to the team after tearing the ACL in her right knee. Ajomale, who has signed with Cal State Fullerton, finished with five points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

“Getting Cici back this past week has been big, because we didn’t think we were going to have her this year,” Weitz said. “Of course we have to play her limited minutes, but she brings good energy, that push that you need to get your team going.

“Her leadership is still big, and her competitiveness means a lot. She still wants to win.”

Freshman forward Nation Williams also displayed an impressive all-around game, finishing with 23 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals.

“Nation, she is young, but she is a beast,” Price said. “Especially when she plays like that. Sometimes you’ve got to pick her up, but she’s determined, she goes hard and just having her in the paint on defense and offense is great.”

Freshman Bella Crawford added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, and senior Danae Powell added 12 points and four assists for Centennial.

Talyiah McKinney had 13 points and five rebounds to lead Arbor View, which was just 7-for-39 from the field (17.9 percent). The Bulldogs went 39-for-66 from the field (59.1 percent).