The Ell-Saline Cardinals took the home floor in Brookville one final time for the 2017-2018 high school basketball season on Tuesday night, hosting the Hutchinson-Trinity Celtics in both schools’ final Heart of America League contest of the season.  While the Cardinal faithful pined for a pair of senior night victories, Trinity had other ideas.

In the girls’ matchup, the Celtics wasted no time asserting their will, jumping out to a 15-0 lead.  By halftime, the Trinity advantage had ballooned to 23 points, with Ell-Saline trailing 33-10 despite a 28-foot three point bomb at the buzzer from Cardinal sophomore Ashton Travis.

The second half featured more of the same, as Trinity outscored Ell-Saline 20-11 in the third quarter, taking a 53-21 advantage.  With a running clock in the fourth quarter, neither team added much to the final count of 55-24.

Trinity (9-10, 5-4) was led by freshman Hayley Hughes, who earned game-high scoring honors with 15 points.  Sophomore Meg Friday scored nine points, while senior Elizabeth Zrubek and sophomore Sierra Garcia each added eight points for the Celtics.

Ell-Saline (2-17, 0-9) received 14 of its 24 points from Travis, earning her Salina Ortho Player of the Game honors.  Freshman Reece Ditto chipped in four points in the Cardinal loss.

Size and Speed Spur Celtics to Victory in Boys’ Battle

The boys’ nightcap mirrored the opening act of the evening in many ways.  Early on, Ell-Saline found itself down 10-0 before a bucket from senior Tel Phelps got the Cardinals on the scoreboard.  By the end of the first half, the Cardinals had done the job defensively, but couldn’t muster the offense to compete, trailing 26-13 at intermission.

Both trends continued throughout the second half as the Ell-Saline defense surrendered just 22 second-half points, but it was enough for Trinity to outscore the Cardinals 22-18 to go on to 48-31 win.

Trinity (13-6, 7-2) was led in scoring by 6’8″ senior Connor Remar with 15 points, while junior Kaleb Hammeke added 14 points while raising defensive havoc in the Cardinal backcourt throughout the game to earn Salina Ortho Player of the Game honors.

Ell-Saline (4-15, 1-8) was paced by nine points from Phelps, along with nine from sophomore Kaden Griffin.  Senior Mason Farrell added six points in the Cardinal effort.

The Cardinals wrap up the regular season next Monday night on the road against Southeast of Saline.

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