The Salina Central Mustangs hosted their final home games of 2022 on Friday night, taking on the Arkansas City Bulldogs in an AVCTL-II matchup.

GIRLS: Salina Central 54, Arkansas City 42

In the girls contest, Salina Central forced Ark City into 15 first-half turnovers, but struggled with making shots. What was a slim lead at the end of the first quarter turned into a short deficit at halftime thanks to a string of made baskets by the Bulldogs to end the first half.

Trailing 22-20 at the break, Central came out and immediately took charge of the third quarter, out-scoring the Bulldogs 23-10 to take an 11-point lead to the final quarter.

Callan Hall lead Salina Central in scoring, tallying 18 points, 17 of which came in the second half. Azbey Peckham also contributed with 12 points on the night.

With the win, Salina Central improved to 4-1 on the season, winning their third-straight contest.

Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game: Callan Hall

H&R Block of the Game: Saniya Triplett

Arkansas City – 6 – 16 – 10 – 10 / 42

Salina Central – 7 – 13 – 23 – 11 / 54

BOYS: Salina Central 60, Arkansas City 53

Salina Central lead wire-to-wire on Friday night. Their staunch defense once again playing into Its offense’s hands, creating easy baskets and open shots.

Mustang Junior Dylan Puckett lead the charge, nailing four three-pointers on the night. Central continued to keep the Bulldogs at bay, despite Ark City’s Trevor Pierce scoring 26-points, attempting a late comeback.

Seemingly every time Arkansas City would make a run, Central would have an answer, never allowing the Bulldogs any closer than five points in the second half.

Freshman post Kaden Snyder posted a stellar outing as well, scoring 12 points off the bench, and tallying multiple second half blocks on the defensive end as well.

Salina Central improved to 3-2 on the season, winning their third-straight.

Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game: Dylan Puckett

H&R Block of the Game: Kaden Snyder

Arkansas City – 5 – 5 – 19 – 24 / 53

Salina Central – 11 – 6 – 22 – 21 / 60

Salina Central will travel to Andover Central on Tuesday night, wrapping up the 2022 portion of their schedule against yet another AVCTL-II foe.