Picture courtesy of Diane Dowell

BOYS: STERLING 36, ELL-SALINE 25

The Ell-Saline Cardinals traveled to Smith Center Saturday evening to take on the Sterling Black Bears with a trip to the 2A State tournament on the line. This was Ell-Saline’s 3rd straight sub-state championship game. It was also the second meeting of these two squads as both teams come from the Heart of America League. Sterling had won the 2/20 matchup 81-56, but that game was in Sterling and this one was on a neutral court. Sterling used a big 2nd quarter to pull away and a late surge by Ell-Saline fell short the Black Bears won a low scoring 36-25 game.

After the speed and the tempo of Sterling was the main reason for the February win Ell-Saline head coach Marty Wendel was going to change things up. The Cardinals wanted to slow the game way down and that is exactly what they did.

Ell-Saline wanted to limit the Sterling offensive possessions from the get go as both team traded buckets in the 1st quarter. Sterling held a slight 7-6 lead after one quarter of play.

The 2nd quarter turned out to be the turning point for the Cardinals as they struggled to knock down shots and got just a lone 3 pointer from Trey Williams in the quarter. Sterling outscored the Cardinals 13-3 in quarter and took a 20-9 lead into the locker room.

Ell-Saline continued to use long offensive possessions in the 3rd quarter as they were able to outscore the Black Bears 5-4 in the quarter. Sterling still had a 24-14 going into the final 8 minutes.

Kas Kramer and Trey Williams didn’t go away easy as they were able to bring the Cardinals within 5 points at 30-25 with 3 minutes left in the game. Sterling would go on a 6-0 run to finish the game as the defending state champions are headed back to the 2A state tournament with a 36-25 win.

Trey Williams and Kas Kramer led the way for Ell-Saline as they knocked down 10 points a piece in the loss.

Boston Ekart scored a game high 15 points for Sterling as the lone Black Bear to finish in double figures.

Ell-Saline Cardinals finish the season with 18-6 overall record and will lose 9 seniors to graduation in May. Sterling moves to 25-0 on the season and will look to repeat as champions as they are headed back to the 2A state tournament next week.

CITY PLUMBING HEATING AND COOLING PLAYER OF THE GAME: Trey Williams & Kas Kramer (10 Points)

BOX SCORE

ELL-SALINE (18-6) – 6 – 3 – 5 – 11  / 25

STERLING (25-0) – 7 – 13 – 4  – 12 / 36

Individual Scoring

Ell-Saline – Trey Williams/Kas Kramer 10, Reese Krone 5.

Sterling – Boston Ekart 15, Wyatt Newberry 8, Blake Smith 7, Jacob Lewis 4, Zane Farney 2.