Salina Central Girls 42 Eisenhower 41 2OT
We expected a good game between the 4-2 Mustangs and the visiting 4-1 Tigers but no one expected the thriller we saw. Both teams went back and forth the entire game starting off with a 4-0 by the Tigers followed by a 10-0 Mustang run. Central led Eisenhower 12-6 at the end of 1. The 2nd quarter was similar with very little scoring but back and forth competitive ball by both teams as the Mustangs led 16-13 at the half. The 1st half scoring was led by Tyler Vidrickson for Central and Carly Dameron of the Tigers who proved to be a tough matchup downlow. The third quarter went back and forth once again and this time the Tigers capitalized on missed free throws and turnovers by the Mustangs to grab a 23-22 lead heading into the final 8 minutes, or so we thought. In a competitive yet low scoring 4th quarter the Mustangs found themselves trailing 28-25 with under a minute to go before the junior guard Callan Hall drained a corner three to knot things up at 28. Quickly Dameron for the Tigers made a right handed floater to give the Tigers a quick lead, 30-28. With approximately 15 seconds left, who else but Tyler Vidrickson of Central drains a jumper from the elbow to tie things right back up at 30 all. The Tigers gave themselves a chance to win it in the final 8 seconds by drawing back to back fouls but were unable to capitalize as they missed three free throws in the final 8 seconds of regulation. OT was no different from the rest of the game as both teams battled it out and this time Central had a chance to end it in OT with a made free throw but instead missed sending us to OT number 2. It was 34-34 all and once again both teams continued to exchange blows. The Mustangs went 1-2 from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds to give themselves a three point lead, their largest since leading early in the 3rd quarter. A last second shot by the Tigers with less than a second to go made it 42-41 but it was too little too late as the Mustangs won an absolute thriller in front of a packed house to improve to 5-2 on the season. The Tigers fell to 4-2 on the season despite a tremendous effort by Carly Dameron who finished with 29 points and a double double.
Nex Tech Wireless Player of the Game- Tyler Vidrickson
H&R Block of the game- Brynn O’Hara
Salina Central boys 31 Eisenhower 32
The boys game was going to be tough to follow after maybe the game of the season in 5a between the 2 girl squads, but it did not disappoint. Central came in at 3-3 looking to get above .500 for the first time this season as Eisnhower looked to stay above .500 at 3-2. There was very little scoring in this one for either team as it was a slim 7-6 lead for the Mustangs at the end of 1. The second half was much of the same as it was just 15-12 in favor of Salina Central. The scoring was led by Dez Gibson of the Mustangs who had 8 at the half. The 3rd quarter got a little more exciting as just when it looked like Central might pull away here came the Tigers who went on a little run at the end of the quarter and trailed the Mustangs 25-21 heading to the final 8 minutes. Back and forth we went in the 4th quarter with each team doing everything in their power to pull off a close win. It came down to the final seconds once again at Salina Central HighSchool as the Tigers, who trailed 30-29 with less than 10 seconds to go, brought the ball up the court. After a missed three pointer with close to 3 seconds left the rebound went to the Mustangs and it seemed like this game was over. The Tigers of course tried to foul to keep some hope alive and Central while trying to just dribble it out coughed up the basketball after bouncing it off of his knee as the Tigers picked it up and threw up a prayer from underneath the basket and in it went as the Tigers pull off a miraculous last second shot to win it at the buzzer and defeat the Mustangs 32-31. Eisenhower improves to 5-3 on the year as the Mustangs drop one they wish they could have back and fall back below .500 at 3-4 on the season.
Nex Tech Wireless Player of the Game- Dez Gibson
H&R Block of the Game- Ethan Waters & Dylan Drane, both guys providing monstrous blocks down low on the defensive side of the ball in critical situations.
