BOYS’ THIRD PLACE FINAL:
CENTRAL 55
SOUTH 54

Salina Central survived a late comeback from Salina South to take third place in the boys bracket of the 2025 Salina Invitational Tournament.

Both teams entered Saturday’s third-place game after drastically different semifinal performances. Central had fallen to Great Bend despite holding a halftime lead, while South was coming off a turnover-filled blowout loss to Andover the night before.

The question remained the same for both: how would they respond?

The Cougars played with noticeable urgency, determined to wipe away the memory of the night before by getting off to a fast start.

Their bench helped supply the spark. Junior Easton Wilcox stepped up and made three 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 11. Junior Sawyer Walker followed suit, cashing in 2 more 3-pointers off the bench.

The Mustangs weathered the early storm from the Cougars and managed to lead at the half 28-21. Senior Kamryn Jones continued to make his case for tournament MVP, finishing with 17 points, three away from his third-straight 20-point game.

Junior forward Kaden Snyder struggled to get consistent looks at the rim most of the game so despite leading at the half, Central was going to need the offense to come from somewhere else.

Sparked by Grant Ostmeyer and Kaeden Nienke off the bench, the Mustangs played their best ball in the third quarter and managed to lead 47-35 heading into the fourth.

As freshmen, Ostmeyer and Nienke rose to the occasion, each scoring nine points in the biggest game of their season.

However, the Mustangs found themselves in a much too familiar place watching a 12-point lead shrink throughout the final frame.

The Cougars comeback was led Jace Humphrey and Jaxton Myers. Humphrey was especially quiet in the first half scoring just two points, but came alive late to finish with 15.

With under 30 seconds to play, Central’s Grant Ostmeyer stepped to the free throw line with a chance to put the Mustangs ahead by three and make a tie their worst case scenario.

He missed both and with just under seven seconds on the clock, South called timeout to draw up a play for the win.

The play found Sawyer Walker on the left wing. It was defended well and the shot missed, a last second follow from Dakari Small missed short and the game was over. Salina Central won by a single point and claimed third place in the boys bracket.

Afterwards, the All-Tournament honors for the boys were announced finding Salina Centrals Kamryn Jones and Kaden Snyder named along with Salina South’s Jace Humphrey.