The Ell-Saline Cardinals made the trip to Whitewater on Friday evening staring down a pair of potential victories against the Remington Broncos. Both Remington teams entered action Friday with records of 5-11 on the season. But on Homecoming night in Whitewater, it was the home faithful left happy, witnessing a Bronco sweep.
In the girls battle, Remington flew out to a 9-0 lead early in the first quarter, only to see Ell-Saline go on 12-2 run to take a 12-11 lead. It would be the only lead of the night for the Cardinals.
Remington closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 19-12 lead in the second quarter, outscoring Ell-Saline 13-4 over the second eight minutes of action to double up the Cardinals at the half, 32-16.
The Ell-Saline offense hit it’s stride in the third quarter, eclipsing their first half output with a 17-point period. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they simply didn’t have an answer for freshman point guard Kimalee Cook. The Salina Ortho player of the game, Cook paced the Bronco offense all night, finishing with a game-high 28 points, helping to keep the Cardinals at bay.
Overall, Ell-Saline outscored Remington 28-27 in the second half, but the halftime deficit was simply too steep to overcome as the Broncos took the victory 59-44.
In addition to Cook’s 28-point effort, Remington (6-11, 2-6) got 11 points from sophomore post Abbie Entz.
Ell-Saline (2-16, 0-8) was led by senior Lexi Kochanowski with ten points. while sophomore Ashton Travis and freshman Lakyn Short finished with night points a piece. Freshman point guard Reece Ditto added eight points.
Sluggish Start Stifles Cardinal Victory Hopes
In the nightcap, the Ell-Saline boys fell behind early 9-1. By the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals were looking at a double-digit deficit, trailing 13-3. The Cardinals found consistency on the offensive end going forward, scoring 43 points over the game’s final three quarters, but couldn’t slow the Bronco offense, led by 6’3″ junior post Brayden Marciano.
The Salina Ortho Player of the Game, Marciano hit ten field goals on the night, finishing with 21 points to lead all scorers, helping to keep Ell-Saline at arm’s length throughout the remainder of the game. Remington outscored Ell-Saline 45-43 after the first quarter to go on to a 58-46 win.
Senior Chase Bowen and junior Jadihn Martin each added ten points for Remington (6-11, 2-6) in the win.
Ell-Saline (4-14, 1-7) received double-digits efforts from senior Mason Farrell who led the Cardinals with 11 points, and sophomore Sawyer Kramer with finished the night with ten points. Senior Tel Phelps chipped in with eight points in the loss.
The Cardinals will take the home floor in Brookville one final time in the 2017-2018 season this coming Tuesday, February 13th, hosting the Hutchinson Trinity Celtics in the final Heart of America league contests for both schools.
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