Brock rolls over Centerville in 2A girls semifinals

By Christian Corona

Special to the Star-Telegram

AUSTIN — Brock earned a chance to win its fifth straight UIL state championship by breezing past Centerville 42-23 in the Class 2A girls semifinal Friday at the Frank Erwin Center.

The Eagles meet Merkel (37-1) in the title game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Merkel beat Poth 56-47.

“It’s awesome. We talked about it all year, wanting to play on March 2,” Brock coach Chance Westmoreland said. “I feel like we’re the most prepared team to do it. We’re going to play good defense. Merkel and Poth are both excellent teams. We know how good Poth is based on how we played them last year at the state final, and Merkel’s been ranked No. 1 most of the year.”

Brock (34-5) missed their first seven shots from the floor and didn’t score for the first 5 1/2 minutes of the game. The Eagles took their first lead when senior Taylor Wallace hit the first of her three 3-pointers to put them up 5-4 in the first quarter.

“It started off slow,” Wallace said. “We always focus on getting the ball inside, but they have that big 6-foot girl [Candace West] in the middle, so we were able to kick it out and I hit them.”

That sparked a 15-0 run that helped Brock take a commanding 17-6 halftime lead over Centerville (30-7), which made its first appearance in the state tournament. Brock’s Cora Jenkins led all scorers with 13 points and five rebounds. Wallace and Braylee Flaska each added nine points for the Eagles.

The Brock defense limited Centerville to 9 of 34 shooting and forced 19 turnovers. Kayla Brewer led Centerville with eight points, and Maygin Harris added seven.

Brock, making its 19th state tournament appearance and ninth since 2000, held the Tigers scoreless for a stretch that lasted more than 10 minutes in the first half.

“It was extremely frustrating, but we know that we play Brock defense, so they’re not going to score on us,” senior Braylee Flaska said. “The offense will come if we just play defense.”

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