Girls
The Salina Central Lady Mustangs hosted their home opener Tuesday night at the brick house against the visiting Indians of Manhattan. Central would play a competitive first quarter, as Tahila Morris would hit twice from behind the ark and lead the scoring for the Lady Mustangs with 7 in the first quarter. It was Kat Ball of Manhattan leading the way for the Indians as she would score the first 6 points of the game for Manhattan and help her team to a 14-9 lead at the end of 1 quarter.
The Lady Mustangs defense would stay aggressive in the second quarter as they held the Indians to just 8 second quarter points. The offense however, led by turnovers, would struggle in the second quarter. At the break it was Manhattan 22 and the Mustangs 14. Salina Central suffered 11 turnovers in the first half and were held to zero points in the paint. Central scored 12 of its 14 first half points from behind the ark, the other 2 from the charity strike. Jones, Morris, and Banniger all hit from three in the first half.
The second half got started by a 9-0 Manhattan run, led primarily by the Indians leading scorer on the night Kat Ball. Despite the highest scoring quarter of the night for the Central offense, it was the Indians offense that overpowered. Manhattan led Central 38-24 heading into the final 8 minutes of the game.
The Lady Mustangs brought the game within 10 points a few different times in the first few minutes of the 4th quarter but Manhattan would continue to respond and never allowed a Central rally. Manhattan would ultimately defeat Salina Central by a final score of 50-32 behind the efforts of Kat Ball who finished the evening with 22 points unofficially. Manhattan improves to 3-1 on the season picking up their third straight win while the Lady Mustangs drop to 0-2 on the young year. Central will be back in action Friday night in Mabee Arena at Kansas Wesleyan University against cross town rival Salina South.
City Plumbing Heating and Cooling Player of the Game- Tahlia Morris
Indians 14/8/16/12 50
Mustangs 9/5/10/8 32
BOYS
The boys were back in action for the home opener after a hard fought 62-61 loss on the road against Andover Central last Friday, a game that ended after a controversial call. Central would play a very competitive first half, holding the lead for all but the final second of the first 16 minutes. The Mustangs led the Indians 12-9 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter went back and forth, each team exchanging blows, but it was Noah McFadden of the Indians that threw up the last shot at the buzzer and drilled it for 3 points that gave Manhattan their first lead of the night as both teams headed into the locker room. At half it was Manhattan 25, Central 23.
The third quarter was a dominant performance by the Mustangs offense, led by Kamryn Jones and Kaden Snyder. The Mustangs would outscore Manhattan 20-11 in the third quarter as Jones dropped 11 in the quarter and Snyder 6. The Mustangs led by as many as 14 in the third quarter but some late quarter spark from the Indians helped them cut the lead to just 9 heading into the final 8 minutes.
The fourth quarter was chaotic to say the least. After a solid start to the quarter, Manhattan would call a timeout with just over 90 seconds to go and trailing by 10. Out of the timeout the Indians full court pressured the Mustangs, causing 3 turnovers in 4 possessions and turning those turnovers into points. With 20 seconds left to play the Mustangs led the Indians 56-54. Out of a Central timeout it was Indians’ ball and 20 seconds to go, Manhattan got an open look from three but missed and Kaden Snyder came down with the rebound and was fouled immediately. Snyder then knocked down 2 clutch free throws with 7 seconds to go to give Central a 4 point lead. Out of the Manhattan timeout they were able to score once more but with no time left on the clock. Salina Central would win 58-56, their first win of the season and Coach Chris Fears first career win as the Mustangs Boys Head Coach. The Mustangs offense was led by Kaden Snyder who finished with 21 points unofficially, and Kamryn Jones with 13, 11 of those coming in the second half. Manhattan falls to 1-3 on the year while Central improves to 1-1 on the season and will be in action Friday night to face cross town rival Salina South, who also picked up their first win of the season tonight.
City Plumbing Heating and Cooling Player of the Game- Kamryn Jones
Central 12/13/20/15 58
Manhattan 9/16/9/22 56
