CAIRO—Seven of the 10 opponents the Swede girls have faced so far this season were either pre-season state-rated by the Omaha World-Herald or jumped into those rankings before playing Gothenburg.

That includes Centura.

“They’re probably one of the top three or four teams we’ve faced this season,” said Gothenburg coach Tim Peterson of the Centurians. “And I’d have to say it was our best overall game yet. We executed everything we needed to, they just shot the ball better than we did.”

Peterson and his girls saw many positive things during the 55-37 loss to Centura Saturday.

“We handled their pressure better than we have anyone all year and we got exactly what we needed to from our offense,” the coach said.

But that doesn’t improve a 1-9 record unless it is combined with a few more points scored.

“We just didn’t get enough shots to fall,” Peterson said.

Centura led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter and it wasn’t until later in the second period that Gothenburg saw the score begin to slip away.

The Swedes trailed 27-17 at halftime and never got any closer.

Juniors Taylor Wolf and Brittyn Munster led the Swedes with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

“We did so many things right but you’re never excited about a loss,” Peterson said. “If we can continue to play at that level, we could come out of this week with three wins in a row. Once you win a few, you begin to expect to win,” he said.

Gothenburg traveled to Arapahoe Tuesday night to face yet another state-rated team.

The Swedes will host Cozad (2-7) on Thursday for parents’ night and then travel to Chase County (3-8) on Friday.

Tipoff at home Thursday is set for 5:30 p.m.

“The girls are doing everything effort-wise and attitude-wise that we ask of them,” Peterson said. “Now we’ve got to get on the right side of the scoring column. Moral victories don’t win ball games.”

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