Basketball Recap: Colten Butler's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Superior over Centennial

Superior lost against Centennial back in December of 2023 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Saturday. The Superior Wildcats lost to the Centennial Broncos at home by a 57-43 margin. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 218th, while the Broncos are ranked 38th).

Superior lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Colten Butler, who posted 13 points in addition to five boards and four steals. Butler is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last 14 games he's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Jaren Gilbert, who put up 14 points.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Centennial to victory, but perhaps none more so than Devin Slawnyk, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 18 rebounds. Those 18 boards gave Slawnyk a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Sam Ehlers, who had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Superior dropped their record down to 1-4 with the loss, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Centennial, the win keeps them at an undefeated 6-0.

Superior will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Alma at 1:00 p.m. on January 4, 2025. Centennial and Malcolm will round out the year against one another at at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Centennial is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.7 points per game this season.