Girls: Salina South 57, Great Bend 20
The Lady Cougars opened up their season Friday night (12/5) with a victory on the road against the Great Bend Panthers. Salina South is coming off a big year last year, going 11-10 overall, completing their first winning season in the program since 2013. Coach Ebert expects his team to go even further this year as the Cougars return a majority of their team from last year including 4 starters. The Cougars, a defensive first team, is looking to take it up another level on the offensive end this year under Coach Ebert who enters his 4th year at the helm.
The first half was all Salina South as their defensive first style of play showed, forcing multiple turnovers and turning them into points in the transition offense. The long ball paved the way for the Cougars first half offense as they drilled 7 from behind the ark in the first half. Brooklyn Jordan hit from behind the ark on three separate occasions in the first half, followed by Elle Barth who hit twice, and Paityn Fritz as well as Brylee Moss each hitting one from deep in the first half. Salina South would take a commanding 39-14 lead into halftime over the Panthers. Brooklyn Jordan led the way offensively for the Cougars in the first half with 13 points, and Elle Barth with 8.
The second half was a dominant finish to a dominant game for the Salina South Cougars. The defense continued its chaotic ways and the offense continued to produce at a high level as the Cougars would top the Panthers 57-20 for an opening night victory. The Lady Cougars were led offensively by Brooklyn Jordan (15), Paityn Fritz (15), and Elle Barth (11) as all three finished with double digit points in the win. Salina South moves to 1-0 on the season and will be back in action Tuesday night (12/10) as they hit the road again to face Arkansas City.
City Plumbing Heating and Cooling Player of the Game – Paityn Fritz
H&R Block of the Game – Tamaia Cheeks
Box Score
Salina South (1-0) 19 – 20 – 15 – 3 / 57
Great Bend (0-1) 8- 6 – 3 – 3 / 20
Boys: Great Bend 71, Salina South 44
The boys got their season started on the road against a tough Great Bend opponent in a great high school basketball atmosphere at Great Bend high school. The Cougars had a tough first game of the season as they faced off against a very talented and experienced team in the Great Bend Panthers. The Cougars had their hands full with trying to guard Ian Premer of the Panthers, one of the best players in the state of Kansas as he dropped 27 points unofficially against Salina South in the opener.
The Cougars played a competitive first half of basketball, after a few early turnovers from the Cougars offense Sawyer Walker got the offense settled in with two long 3 pointers to keep Salina South in the game at the end of the 1st quarter. Great Bend led 20-10 after the first 8 minutes of play.
The start of the second quarter was all Panthers as they saw their lead grow to as many as 18 midway through the 2nd quarter, large in part by Ian Premer and Jacob Hall. After a Cougar timeout, Salina South switched into a 2-3 zone defensive look which helped slow down the Panthers attack inside the paint. In the final three minutes before the break the Cougars were able to cut the Panther lead from 18, to just 9 as they headed into the locker room. A very competitive close to the first half from Salina South was led by good defensive play, and some timely shots on the offensive end. Salina South led 35-26 at the half against a very good Great Bend squad.
Despite a strong close to the first half, the second half did not go as South had hoped. Struggles finding open looks offensively turned in to turnovers for the Cougars and the Panthers transition offense took over as Great Bend would pull away in the third quarter. The Panthers would go on to win by a final score of 71-44 defeating the Cougars in the opener in Great Bend.
Salina South showed a lot of fight and plenty of spark throughout the night of how good they can be this season. Although the second half did not go how the Cougars would’ve liked, Coach Hooper shared in his postgame interview that he was proud of the way his team fought in the first half, and that now an expectation has been set on how the Cougars need to play in all four quarters. Salina South was led offensively by senior Jace Humphrey who finished with 14 points. The Cougars will be back in action on Tuesday (12/10) as they hit the road to face Arkansas City.
City Plumbing Heating and Cooling PLOG= Jace Humphrey
H&R Block of the Game= Gavin Devoe
Box Score
Salina South 10 – 16 – 7 – 11 / 44
Great Bend 20 – 15 – 22 – 14 / 71
