Another cold shooting night and a low scoring 3rd quarter helped the Bennington Lady Bulldogs defeat the Ell-Saline Lady Cardinals 30-29 for the 2nd time on the season.

In many of the games on the new year, the Ell-Saline Lady Cardinals have had a rough time connecting on shots and Tuesday night was no different, as they shot around 22% from the field.

The third quarter proved to be the demise as they were outscored 8-4.  Early in the game it was the Lady Cardinals that would jump out to a 4 point lead a couple of times and end the first quarter on top 7-4.

The second quarter was much the same with senior Brynna Rowley knocking down a pair of 3’s and junior Raleigh Kramer would hit a deuce and a pair of free throws to help Ell-Saline maintain a two point lead 16-14 at intermission.

Ell-Saline was as cold as the temperature

outside in the 3rd quarter only connecting on two shots, while the Lady Bulldogs doubled up the score to take a 22-20 lead after three.  It was still much the same cold shooting in the fourth quarter, but senior Reece Ditto made it close hitting a three and a lay-up at the buzzer to make the final 30-29.

The Lady Cardinals did play some excellent defense for much of the game creating 18 turnovers on Bennington.  Lady Bulldog senior Kyla Kind led all scorers on the night with 15 points, with senior Peyton Piepho chipping in 7.

For the Lady Cardinals it was junior Raleigh Kramer and senior Brynna Rowley leading the way with 8 points each and senior Reece Ditto added 7.

Ell-Saline drops to 5-10 overall 2-2 in league play, while Bennington improves to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in league.  The Lady Cardinals travel to Sedgwick on Friday night for a 5:45 pre-game show and 6:00 tip-off, catch all the action on 104.9 FM.

It was a big night for the Bennington Bulldog post players as they combined for 39 points to defeat the Ell-Saline Cardinals 47-30 on Tuesday night in Brookville.

With 6-5 freshman Eli Lawson and 6-4 junior Cayden Bauer leading the way with 39 of the Bulldogs 47 points it was a comfortable win for the Bulldogs on the 2nd meeting for these two teams on the season, however the Cardinals did mount a challenge in the 3rd quarter, but could not get over the hump.

In the first quarter Bennington took it down inside to the big men and controlled the boards for 13-4 lead after one.  Quarter number two saw the Cardinals battle back after being down by as many as 11, with a variety of players contributing, but were still down by 8 at the half 22-14.

In the third quarter Ell-Saline stepped up the defensive pressure after falling behind by 13 and found some scoring of their own to mount a strong run to get back within five points late in the 3rd, but still trailed by 7 after three 28-21.

The fourth and final quarter saw the Bulldog post players go to work again and outscored the Cardinals 19-9, plus dominate the boards to seal the win 47-30.

Bulldog freshman Eli Lawson led all scorers for the game with 24 points, while junior Cayden Bauer ended the night with a double-double dropping in 15 points and collecting 10 rebounds.

For the Cardinals 8 players scored led by freshman Marshall Johnson with 7, freshman Joe Hiechel adding 6, with senior Hunter Steinbruck and senior Carter Underwood chipping in 5 each.

With the loss the Cardinals drop to 0-16 on the season, with the Bulldogs improving to 6-9 overall 3-4 in league play.  Ell-Saline is back in action Friday night on the road at Sedgwick with a 7:30 tip-off on

104.9 FM.