Kajan Thiruthanikasalam (Sports Writer, Colts Athletics)

SCARBOROUGH, ONT.- The Centennial Colts headed to Seneca College, looking to pull off an upset against the 5-1 Sting. Turnovers, however, proved to be their Achilles heel.

Centennial (2-3) coughed up the ball a whopping 30 times in their 72-52 loss to Seneca (6-1).

"Tonight, we didn't do a very good job picking our spots, knowing when to attack a press on the dribble and knowing when to attack on a pass," Colts head coach Justin Bobb said. "And I think a lot of that comes down to positioning and being mentally prepared. We know that they're going to be up on us, pressing us; we know it's going to be challenging. That's when we've got to be disciplined and stick to our principles, which are passing the middle, not the sideline, and not trying to dribble drive through a press situation."

The Colts remain winless on the road, with both of their wins coming at home. Centennial was also outrebounded, 49-47, and 21-16 on the offensive end, while shooting just 35.4 per cent from the field and an unsightly 7.1 per cent from three point range. On top of that, the Sting outpaced the Colts in assists (18-6), steals (21-16) and blocks (6-3).

"Credit to Seneca's forwards; they're athletic just like ours. And tonight, they did a better job than us getting positioning. They fought early for their spots, they boxed out early, and it led to a lot of second chance possessions for them," Bobb said about the rebounding differential. "Ultimately, second chance shots keep a team's flow going well so we got to do a better job to get to our spots, put a body on somebody and box out, and secure the rebound."

Taylor Allicock led all scorers with 18 points off of the bench, as the Sting had 45 bench points to the Colts' 28. Sarah Givens finished with a game high six assists and six steals in the win.

Mariam Konate led Centennial with 13 points and a game high six steals off the bench while Yasmeen Smith was the only other Colt in double figures with a quiet double-double (10 points, game high 11 rebounds).

"Credit to Mariam for putting in the work and the hours in practice. What Mariam's doing a great job of now is matching her athleticism with her decision making and understanding when to drive, when to pull up, and when to make a pass,": Bobb said. "I thought she did a really good job tonight keeping her foot on the gas for us and did a lot to keep us in the game." 

After Seneca took an early 6-2 lead, Centennial went on an 8-0 run, capped off by a pair of layups from Konate after shifty in-and-out moves. The Colts took a 12-10 lead after one quarter.

In the second quarter, Seneca took the lead for good as a putback layup from Trill Peterson sparked a 9-0 run to put them up 27-18. The Sting continued to increase their lead and a layup from Alcian Satchel gave Seneca their biggest lead of the half at 37-23 and forced Bobb to call a timeout. A 6-2 run, capped off by a jumper from Michelle Beloso, gave Centennial some momentum heading into the half, trailing 39-29. 

Satchel had six in the quarter while Konate led all scorers and kept Centennial within reach with 11 at the half.

"I just don't mean her scoring but her energy and effort on both sides on the court," Bobb said. "Yeah, she scored and she did a good job getting to the rim but what Mariam did was step on post ups, fight around bigger players on post ups, dived on the ground for loose balls. That's the boost that we need and we know, coming in as a freshman, that's what we're going to get from a kid that's that talented."

Coming out of halftime, Seneca scored the first seven points of the quarter and were holding a 48-33 lead midway through. The Colts wouldn't go away, though, as they went on a 9-0 run, capped off by a triple from Kelly Hunter. But the Sting closed the quarter out on a 6-2 run to go back up by double digits and held a 54-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Sting pulled away in the fourth quarter as they held the Colts scoreless for more than six minutes (while scoring 12 during that span) before Smith's layup ended that drought with 3:46 remaining. It was the first field goal for Centennial since Effe Mae Abban's short jumper with 47.1 seconds left in the third quarter.

"The third quarter, we did a good job of matching their (Seneca's) energy and effort; you saw the result of a tied score in the quarter," Bobb said. "In the fourth quarter, I thought Seneca did a really good job to come out with a lot of energy. They pushed the tempo on us; we weren't able to get back in transition very well. They did a really good job getting middle drives that created some poor secondary defensive rotations that led to open shots for them."

Seneca went up by as many as 24 before emptying their bench as they coasted to an easy win. Bobb says that turnovers and second chance points will be key against the St. Lawrence Vikings at home on Saturday.

"If we got one thing to work on, we've got to value possession; we can't turn it over," Bobb said. "And we've got to limit second chance points for St. Lawrence on Saturday."

UP NEXT: Centennial plays its final home game of the semester against the St. Lawrence Vikings on Saturday Nov. 25 at 1:00 pm.