The Ell-Saline Cardinals have posted back-to-back wins for the first time this season as they took down Belle Plaine 49-34 on Thursday night on the road. The game was part of the Heart of America-Central Plains League Challenge.
It was a back and forth affair all evening as the Cardinals and Dragons traded the lead through the first three quarters. The Dragons led 15-14 after a high scoring first quarter, but both defenses locked in as the Cardinals took a 23-17 lead into halftime.
Belle Plaine came out strong in the third quarter and found a way to trim the Cardinal lead down to just one point as the score was 28-27 in favor of Ell-Saline entering the final frame.
The Cardinals dominated the final period outscoring Belle Plaine 21-7 in the period on the back of a defensive performance that limited the Dragons to just 2-11 shooting.
Brin Hecker led all scorers on the night with a season-high 21 points on 9-14 shooting. Avery Richards chipped in seven points while Bayleigh Schneider added six more to balance out the scoring.
The Dragons were led in scoring on the night with 11 from Madyson Talbot. Addison Skaggs also contributed 10 points for the Belle Plaine offense.
The win moves Ell-Saline to 4-2 on the season while Belle Plaine falls to 1-4. The Cardinals will be in action after Winter Break as they travel to take on Remington on January 5th. Belle Plaine will next be in action on December 19th as they travel to take on Conway Springs.
NEX-TECH WIRELESS PLAYER OF THE GAME: BRIN HECKER (21 POINTS)
H&R BLOCK OF THE GAME: TAELOR HARDESTY
ELL-SALINE (4-2) – 14 – 9 – 5 – 21 / 49
BELLE PLAINE (1-4) – 15 – 2 – 10 – 7 / 34
Individual Scoring
Ell-Saline – Brin Hecker 21 points (9-14 / 0-0 / 3-4), Avery Richards 7 points (2-7 / 1-2 / 2-2), Bayleigh Schneider 6 points (2-7 / 0-2 / 2-4), Taelor Hardesty 5 points (0-2 / 0-1 / 5-6), Ally Richards 4 points (2-10 / 0-3 / 0-3), Isabelle Porter 4 points (1-1 / 0-0 / 2-2), Reygan Schrock 1 point (0-1 / 0-0 / 1-2), Kalei Powell 1 point (0-0 / 0-0 / 1-2)
Belle Plaine – Madyson Talbot 11 points (3-6 / 0-2 / 5-5), Addison Skaggs 10 points (3-9 / 2-5 / 2-4), Ella Lawless 7 points (3-6 / 0-1 / 1-7), Macie Shook 4 points (1-8 / 1-4 / 1-2), Taryn Bohannon 2 points (1-6 / 0-0 / 0-0)
