The 2020-21 Basketball season came to a close for the Ell-Saline Lady Cardinals on Tuesday night in the first round of Sub-State play to the #4 ranked Hillsboro Lady Trojans 60-39.

Holding their own for the first 16 minutes of play, the Lady Cardinals made it close through the first half, playing to a tie at 19-19 after one quarter.  Leading the way with their inside play was sophomore Keela Wilson and junior Sadie Bradley scoring 6 points each in the initial 8 minutes that led to the tie game.  Freshman Savannah Shahan came off the bench to propel the Lady Trojans with 11 points of her own, all inside the paint and from the charity stripe.

The second quarter saw a more balanced scoring attack for both teams, as four more players helped with the offensive production that kept the scoring close, but Hillsboro got a couple of baskets late to take a 32-29 lead to the locker room at intermission.

With their size and length inside, plus a couple of big 3’s by their senior Teegan Werth, the Lady Trojans took control in the third quarter with a 20-5 run and owned a 52-34 advantage heading into the fourth and final quarter.

In the final 8 minutes it was more scoring woes for the Lady Cardinals, as they would only produce 5 more points in the fourth quarter and Hillsboro would add 8 more for the final score of 60-39.

Leading the scoring for Ell-Saline was senior Brynna Rowley and junior Sadie Bradley with 9 points each, junior Raleigh Kramer and sophomore Keela Wilson added 7 each.  For the Lady Trojans, it was freshman Savannah Shahan leading all scorers with 20 points, senior Teegan Werth dropped in 13, while senior Jessica Saunders added 8 and senior Kinsey Kleiner chipped in 7.

The season ends for the Ell-Saline Lady Cardinals at 6-14, while the #4 ranked Hillsboro Lady Trojans improved to 18-3 and advance to the semifinals of the Ell-Saline Sub-State to face Bennington or Sedgwick on Friday.