After the Wichita North game, Salina South girls’ basketball coach, Ryan Stuart, challenged his team.

Whatever speech Stuart gave to his team must have worked, because Salina South has since put two of their best games in-a-row after beating Andover 60-52 on Friday night.

Though South didn’t get the win over a state ranked team in Hays on Tuesday, coach Stuart saw promise from his improving squad. South was able to continue the improvement for their second win on the season over Andover.

Andover came out shooting the ball well, but South was able to keep up only trailing 16-13 at the end of the opening stanza. The second quarter though, is where the Cougars flexed their muscles.

Salina South became red hot in the second quarter. Whether it was outside with Jadyn Zamecnik and Jacie Marcotte or inside with Angie Hall, the Trojans had no answers for the Cougar offensive dominance. South scored 19 points in the second quarter–all while choking down on Andover on defense–to take a 32-27 halftime lead.

South wasn’t done there. Coming off of her best varsity game in her career, senior Sydnee Connell would will South in the second half.

Connell could score from the outside with her shot, she could also drive in to the paint and make life miserable for Andover. It proved to be a lethal combonation as Andover couldn’t guard Connell all night. The South guard would get big buckets all night to help keep the Trojans at arm’s-length.

South held a double-digit margin for the majority of the fourth quarter as the Cougars would hang on for the win.

Andover (7-7, 4-2 AVCTL-II) cooled off after the first quarter. South’s defense continued to suffocate the usually hot-shooting Trojans. Andover was led by two players with 14 points each, Shanti Henry and Isabelle Reynolds. Kylee Gaddis scored 10.

Salina South (5-9, 1-5 AVCTL-I) would grab 29 offensive rebounds on the evening and out rebound Andover 51-29 for the game. The 60 point total was also the highest on the season for the Cougars. South had three scorers in double-figures, Connell scored 14 points and Zamecnik scored 12.

The Salina Ortho “Players of the Game” for South were both Angie Hall–who scored 11 points and pulled in 11 rebounds for a double-double–and Allie Valdez who went a perfect 6-6 from the foul stripe in the final quarter. Salina South looks for revenge at Hutchinson on Tuesday night.

Andover 77, SALINA SOUTH 47

Once again for the Salina South boys’ basketball team, they were unable to execute well enough to keep up with the more athletic Andover.

Andover would race out to a 19-8 first quarter lead and South would never threaten. The Trojans led 32-19 at halftime and stretched their lead to 20 by the end of the third.

South struggled to slow the fast-paced Trojans’ transition offense, all while caughing up several turnovers on their way to an ugly night.

Andover (8-6, 4-2 AVCTL-II) beat South twice this season. Andover was led by three scorers in double-figures including Jack Johnson’s 19 points, Andrew Gagnon with 17 points, while Eli Fahnestock scored 12.

Salina South (2-12, 1-5 AVCTL-I) struggled to slow down the pace all night. South did however have two scorers in double-figures with Devin Junghans and A.J. Johnson both scoring 11 points each. Johnson was selected as the game’s Salina Ortho “Player of the Game.”

Next up for Salina South, the Cougars travel to Hutchinson in a big double-header next Tuesday night. Live coverage can be heard on Y93.7 with tip times at 6/7:30 p.m.

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