GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Height Helps Century End Troy’s Reign

For the past three years, Troy took advantage of Jennie Gadd, its 6-foot-4 center, and won the Lady Centurion Classic.

Now Gadd is playing at Mississippi, and the Warriors on Saturday got a dose of the medicine they had been dishing out.

Century, with three players 6-2 or taller, scored a 58-42 victory in the championship game of their tournament, dethroning three-time defending champion Troy (3-1) in the process.

Aprile Powell, a 6-2 freshman, had 28 points and 14 rebounds for Century (4-0) and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Allison Napier, a 6-2 junior who played last year at Santa Ana Valley, had 12 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks.

If that wasn’t imposing enough, Century had 6-3 sophomore Nikki Love (five rebounds) coming off the bench.

“They really influenced our shots,” Troy Coach Brad Sand said of the Centurion front line. “As soon as they shut down our transition game, our game went south.

“When they got back on defense and we had to shoot over them, we had our troubles.”

Troy was game. It held a 35-34 lead with 3 minutes 8 seconds left in the third quarter before turnovers and poor shooting took its toll.

The Warriors were led by Heidi Hardeman, who scored 16 points, and Janea Butler, who had 14.

Century also got 13 points from senior guard Melissa Astran.