Elex Banks’ 15 point night was not enough for the Salina South boys’ basketball team as a 26-15 third quarter by Kapaun doomed the Cougars in a 63-44 loss at Kapaun Mt. Carmel.

Although both teams played an even first half, South was never able to gain a lead on Kapaun in the AVCTL/GWAL Challenge game rescheduled due to snow played on Monday night.

The first quarter is where Kapaun set the tone by feeding the ball to their senior guard, Mark Hutton. Hutton would torture the South defense all night driving the basketball and getting easy looks at the rim. South could not keep him from the lane.

Even with the timely scoring from Hutton, South was able to hang around in the first half by forcing turnovers and feeding the ball inside to Banks who scored 11 of his 15 in the first half.

At halftime, Kapaun led 28-22.

Kapaun came out and took control in the second half, as the other top Crusader scorer, Mitchell Woodward got hot. The senior guard only scored 2 points in the first half, but would torch South in the second.

South would also help the Crusader cause by committing several turnovers over the course of the game as the Cougar guards were too sped up.

With the combination of good Kapaun offense and bad Salina South offense, the Cougars trailed 54-37 after three, after a Hail Mary 3-pointer heaved at the buzzer by Grant Johnson capped off the dominating period for the Crusaders.

Salina South (1-8, 1-5 AVCTL) has now lost five-straight games. The Cougars had one scorer in double-figures. Joey Wilson just missed out by scoring 9 points.

Kapaun (3-6, 2-6 GWAL) saw both Hutton and Woodward score in double-figures as both would account for 17 points each.

The Salina Ortho “Player of the Game” for Salina South was Elex Banks. The Cougar junior post player scored 15 points to lead the way for South.

It’s a short week for Salina South coming up, as both Cougar basketball teams are back in action on Thursday in the first round of the SIT. The South girls get Andover in the 4/5 matchup, while the boys play the top-seed, Goodland. Both games will be played at South High. Tip times are 6:30/8:15 p.m. on Y93.7.