The sport doesn't matter, the gender doesn't matter, the age doesn't matter. Center's seventh-grade girls basketball team, coached by Brian Wilson, accomplished something that many middle and high school teams only dream of -- a perfect season.
The Center Lady Mustangs completed their 15-game regular season without a loss. "They're awesome," Wilson said.
The Lady Mustangs' closest game this year was against North Royalton. Lauren Wedel, one of the Mustangs' leading defensive players, was out with a sprained ankle that game. Center found themselves down by 4 points with 28 seconds left.
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Through the basketball knowledge of Wilson and the athleticism of the girls, they pulled that one out by 1 point.
The only other close game was against Cloverleaf. When that battle finally ended, the Mustangs found themselves on the winning end of a 29-23 score. No other school got closer than 10 points when the final buzzer sounded. Even the cross-town rival Albion Mustangs couldn't give them a game as Center recorded another double-digit win last week at a game played at .
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The Center seventh-graders are scoring an average of 40 points per game while giving up a stingy 14. While many things contributed to this Mustangs "Dream Season," one big factor was the scoring ability of Erin Sims. Because Wilson tries to give equal playing time to all of his girls, Sims only ended up playing about nine minutes a game, but is averaging almost 10 points per contest.
Abby Novak tied the school record for most rebounds in a game with 15. She led the Lady Mustangs in the rebound department averaging 5.4 a game. In one game this season, the Mustangs poured in 70 points in four six-minute quarters, a new Center record.
Wilson, a local graduate of Holy Name High School and Akron University, is not totally hung up on the undefeated season. Wilson is most concerned with teaching the girls the game of basketball. While admitting that he is very competitive, his focus is on the girls learning the game and not the 15-0.
When asked if he would prefer to coach a team of a different age or gender, the first-year coach replied," I couldn't replace this year with anything else."
Heading into tournament play, the girls who put on the seventh grade basketball uniforms for Center Middle School include Lauren Wedel #5, Kayla Zevchik #7, McKayla Krizman #11, Abby Novak #12, Sydney Sallee #13, Sydney Naughton #20, Mary Calaiacovo #23, Delfina Glover #24, Erin Sims #32, Kassidy Krizman #33, Jaelyn Pounds #40, McKenzie Ramser #41,Gabby Knauss #42.