It was a strong start for the the Lady Cardinals to begin their match-up with the Lady Eagles, but it wasn’t enough as Ell-Saline fell to Ellinwood in the girls contest 50-40.

The Cardinals began the game on an 8-0 run before the Eagles would finally score at the 4:40 mark of the first quarter. Ell-Saline would lead by two at the end of the first quarter 13-11. In quarter number two Ell-Saline would go ice cold from the field, with Ellinwood outscoring them 12-2 in the period. The Eagles lead the Cardinals at the half 23-15.

Ell-Saline got back as close as five with 1:38 to go in the third quarter, but a 6-2 Eagles run to close the period saw the Cardinals deficit grow to 33-24 at the end of three. Four consecutive three pointers by Ellinwood sophomore Mya Maxwell in the fourth quarter all but sealed the Cardinals fate, as the Lady Eagles would go on to defeat the Lady Cardinals by a 50-40 final.

Maxwell led all scorers with 21 points. Sophomore Hannah Backhus’ 11 would lead all Cardinal scorers.

In the nightcap, the Cardinal boys would see an early lead fade away, but ultimately secured their first victory of the season with a 46-45 win.

Two big runs in the first quarter gave Ell-Saline a 14-6 lead after the first quarter. Ellinwood would get the deficit down to four at 16-12 with 3:20 to go before halftime, but an 8-4 run to close the half saw the Cardinals on top at the break 24-16.

With 3:51 to go in the third, the Cardinals would hold their largest lead of the ballgame at 34-21, but a 10-2 Eagles run to close out the period gave them new life as the score stood at 36-31. Ell-Saline drew it back out to a seven point game at 41-34 with 6:46 remaining., but a 10-4 Ellinwood run got them as close as one at 45-44 with :49 seconds left. Treyton Peterson would hit a big free throw in the closing seconds for Ell-Saline while his counterpart David Hammeke for Ellinwood missed a game tying free throw with one second to go, giving the Cardinals the 46-45 win.

Peterson led all scorers with 23 points. Hammeke had 15 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort for Ellinwood.

The girls are back in action on Thursday as the host Belle Plaine while the boys hit the hardwood again on Friday traveling to Wichita to take on Independent.

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