Pic courtesy of Jenna Hull
The Ell-Saline Cardinals were back in action Thursday evening as they would welcome the Rural Vista Heat to Brookville for a non league matchup. The Cards would split with the Heat on the night with Rural Vista taking the girls game 56-46 and Ell-Saline taking the boys game 69-48.
GIRLS: RURAL VISTA 56, ELL-SALINE 46
Both teams would come out on fire as neither team was struggling to knock down shots. It was back and forth for most of the 1st quarter as Ell-Saline led 25-23 after one quarter.
Things would slow down just a bit in the 2nd quarter for both squads as Rural Vista would outscore the Lady Cards 15-11 in the quarter. Rural Vista would take a 38-36 lead into the locker room.
Rural Vista would score the first 6 points of the 2nd half as they would extend their lead and was just too much for the lady Cards. The lady Heat would outscore Ell-Saline 18-10 in the final two quarter and they would pull away with a 10-point win.
Ell-Saline was lead in scoring by senior Taelor Hardesty as she would finish the night with a game high 22 points.
Freshman Lilliana Stilwell would lead the Rural Vista attack as she would knock down 20 points in the win. Freshman Kaimey Evans (12) would also reach double figures for the lady Heat.
Ell-Saline drops to 1-16 on the season and will be on the road Friday as they travel to Wichita to take on Central Christian Academy. Rural Vista moves to 7-10 on the season and will return home to welcome Canton-Galva on Friday night.
CITY PLUMBING HEATING AND COOLING PLAYER OF THE GAME: Taelor Hardesty (22 Points)
H & R BLOCK OF THE GAME: Emily Porter
BOX SCORE
RURAL VISTA (7-10) –23 – 15 – 10 – 8 / 56
ELL-SALINE (1-16) – 25 – 11 – 4 – 6 / 46
Individual Scoring
Ell-Saline – Taelor Hardesty 22, Kaitlyn Betzner 7, Emily Porter 6, Aubrey Smith 4, Isabelle Porter 3, Levaya Aulner/Jocelyn Taylor 2.
Rural Vista – Lilliana Stilwell 20, Kaimey Evans 12, Clara Noeth/Journey Peterson 7, Molly Hunnicutt 6, Aubrey Schlesener 3, Reagan Fiest 1.
BOYS: #4 ELL-SALINE 69, RURAL VISTA 48
In the night cap the Ell-Saline Cardinals would use a huge night from junior Reese Krone as they would take care of a scrappy Rural Vista team 69-48.
It was a back and forth battle for most of the 1st quarter but Ell-Saline was able to pull away just a tad as they would lead 23-17 after the 1st quarter.
Both teams would struggle to knock down shots in the 2nd quarter as they both would score 8 points in the frame. Ell-Saline would take a 31-25 lead into the break.
Ell-Saline would catch a little fire in the 2nd half as they would knock down 5-3’s and outscore the Heat 38-23 in the final two quarters and would coast to a 69-48 win.
Ell-Saline was led in scoring on the evening by Reese Krone who finished the night with a season high 24 points. Senior Brogan Rowley (14) and junior Kas Kramer (13) would also reach double figures for the Cardinals.
Senior Nathan Traynor would lead the Heat in scoring as he would knock down 14 points in the loss. Junior Koden Sanford would add 10 points of his own as the other Rural Vista player in double digits.
Ell-Saline moves to 15-2 on the season and will be on the road Friday as they travel to Wichita to take on Central Christian Academy. Rural Vista moves to 11-6 on the season and will return home to welcome Canton-Galva on Friday night.
CITY PLUMBING HEATING AND COOLING PLAYER OF THE GAME: Reese Krone (24 Points)
H & R BLOCK OF THE GAME: Brogan Rowley
BOX SCORE
RURAL VISTA (11-6) –17 – 8 – 15 –8 / 48
ELL-SALINE (15-2) – 23 – 8 – 19 – 19 / 69
Individual Scoring
Ell-Saline – Reese Krone 24, Brogan Rowley 14, Kas Kramer 13, Trey Williams 9, Garrison Zerger 5, Jake Tillberg 3, Tayton Williams 1.
Rural Vista – Nathan Traynor 14, Koden Sanford 10, Kole Riedy 8, Gavin Carson 6, Tyler Brockmeier/Tucker Mein 3, Landon Parker/Grant Eskeldson 2.
