The Ell Saline Lady Cardinals were shooting for their third straight victory on Friday night at Bennington, but a cold shooting second half proved to be the difference in the 29-27 loss to the Lady Bulldogs.

The Lady Cardinals fell behind 5-0 early in the first quarter, but followed that up with a 9-0 run of their own for a 9-5 lead after quarter number one.  In the 2nd quarter both teams traded baskets with limited scoring, but Ell Saline still held the lead 15-11 at the half.

Bennington shot just slightly better than the Cardinals 26% compared to 21% over the final 16 minutes, but 2 big 3’s by Bulldog senior Kyla Kind early in the 4th quarter propelled Bennington to an 18-12 run in the 2nd half and the win.

Kind finished with 12 points for the game and led all scorers, junior Olivia Lawson chipped in 7 for the Lady Bulldogs.  The Lady Cardinals did not have anyone in double digits, but were led by senior Brynna Rowley with 7 points, senior Reece Ditto and junior Sadie Bradley both chipped in 6 each.

The Lady Cardinals dropped to 2-2 on the season and will host Ellinwood next Tuesday at Brookville.  Join us for the 5:45 pregame show and 6:00 start on 104.9.

Bennington 48, Ell-Saline 26

On the second straight night in non-district Basketball play, the Ell-Saline Cardinal boys opened with some good offensive play and hitting some big shots early, but the Bennington Bulldogs opened the 2nd half with a 19-2 run to take control for the win 48-26 non-district matchup with two 0-3 teams.

The Cardinal boys had five players contribute to a 14-8 lead at the close of the first quarter.  Bennington had a mini 9-5 run in the 2nd quarter and closed the gap for a Cardinal 18-17 lead at intermission.  The Bulldogs huge 19-2 run in the 3rd quarter had five players scoring with great inside play from the post players and the guards getting some key steals and lay ups, while the Cardinals had 23 turnovers for the game and an extremely cold 17% shooting over the final 2 quarters only producing 8 points.

Bulldog freshman Eli Lawson led all scorers on the night with 18 points 7 rebounds, freshman Mason Nemachek had 8 points, junior Ryker Greene chipped in 7, with juniors Ben Stanley and Cayden Bauer adding 6 each.

For the Cardinal boys no player reached double figures, but were led by a trio of players with 6 points each, including junior Taegan Bradley, senior Carter Underwood and sophomore Kade Wilson.

Ell Saline drops to 0-4 on the season and will host Ellinwood on Tuesday night at Brookville, catch all the action immediately following the girls game on 104.9.