The Ell-Saline would open the open up the 2025-2026 basketball season with a trip to Herington to take on the Herington Railers and would come away with big wins in both games. The lady Cardinals would turn in a impressive performance with a 42-20 win. The Ell-Saline Cardinals boys team would use a big first quarter to cruise to a 71-25 victory.
GIRLS: ELL-SALINE 42, HERINGTON 20
The lady Cardinals would win just one game last season and they were looking to bounce back this year as they hired head coach Tom Haynes to take over the program.
Friday night it was the sophomores and freshman that were in the spotlight. Sophomores Levaya Aulner(14), Aubrey Smith(10) and Paisley Jensen(11) would all finish the night in double figures. The Lady Cardinals are a young team with 14 of their 18 roster players being freshman or sophomores.
Ell-Saline would lead from the opening whistle as they would race out to a 9-6 lead after the first quarter and would continue to build their lead as the game went on.
The lady Cards would struggle somewhat in the 2nd quarter but would still outscore the lady Railers in the frame 9-8. Ell-Saline would take a 18-14 lead into the locker room.
Levaya Aulner and the lady Cardinals would dominate the 2nd half as they would out score the lady Railers 24-6 in the final two quarters as pulled away with a 22 point win to start the season.
Senior Isabelle Ecklund would lead the Herington attack as she would knock down 6 points in the loss.
Ell-Saline moves to 1-0 on the season and will open up the Tri-County Classic next Tuesday at home against Minneapolis. Herington drops to 0-2 on the season and open up the Herington Preseason Tournament next week.
CITY PLUMBING HEATING AND COOLING PLAYER OF THE GAME: Levaya Aulner (14 Points)
BOX SCORE
ELL-SALINE (1-0) – 9 – 9 – 13 – 11 / 42
HERINGTON (0-2) –6 – 8 – 2 – 4 / 20
Individual Scoring
Ell-Saline – Levaya Aulner 14, Paisley Jensen 11, Aubrey Smith 10, Aubree Stout 6, Bret Hecker 1.
Herington – Isabelle Ecklund 6, Lexi Sjodahl 4, Cadence Sill-Sheppard 3, Xiana Dugarin/Sadie Haws/Ella Nelson 2, Katlyn Forguson 1.
BOYS: #3 ELL-SALINE 71, HERINGTON 25
In the night cap Ell-Saline use a quick start to race out to a big lead and then would coast to an easy 71-25 win.
Seniors Trey Williams and Collin Dent would get off to a quick start in the first as Williams would score 10 of his game high 15 points and Dent would score 9 of 11 points in the the 1st quarter. The Cardinals would lead 29-9 after the first eight minutes.
Ell-Saline would continue to show why they are preseason ranked #3 in the 2nd quarter as they outscored the Railers 16-6 in the quarter and the Cardinals took a 45-15 lead into the locker room.
It was a running clock for most of the 2nd half as the senior Reese Krone would dominate the first 3 minutes of the of the 3rd quarter as he would score 9 of of his game high 15 points in the opening minutes of the quarter. Coach Wendel would pull the starters and give some of the JV players and opportunity for some varsity time for most of the 4th quarter as they rolled to the 71-25 win.
Ell-Saline was led in scoring on the evening by Trey Williams and Reese Krone who both finished the night with a game high 15 points. Collin Dent would chip in 11 points and Branton Gosvener would come off the bench and add 9 for the Cardinals.
Junior Pierce Schlessner would lead the Railers in scoring as he would knock down 6 points in the loss.
Ell-Saline moves to 1-0 on the season and will open up the Tri-County Classic next Tuesday at home against Minneapolis. Herington drops to 0-2 on the season and open up the Herington Preseason Tournament next week.
CITY PLUMBING HEATING AND COOLING PLAYER OF THE GAME: Trey Williams & Reese Krone (15 Points)
BOX SCORE
ELL-SALINE (1-0) – 29 – 16 – 15 – 11 / 71
HERINGTON (0-2) –9 – 6 – 7 – 3 / 25
Individual Scoring
Ell-Saline – Trey Williams/Reese Krone 15, Collin Dent 11, Branton Gosvener 9, Wyatt Allen/Kas Kramer 5, Lucas Swetson 4, Jaxsen Seed 3, Emanuel Ferriera/Kade Christy 2.
Herington – Pierce Schlnesner 6, Jah’cure Thomas/Cameron Strauss 5, Jeff Zillyette/Connor Hight 3
