Girls: South 41, Buhler 21

It was a defensive struggle from start to finish, but the South girls made enough shots to pull away early and coast to their third win of the season, and the second against the Crusaders.

Elena Herbel splashed home two first quarter threes to help South go in front. After an early bucket to get on the board, Buhler then was suffocated by the Cougar defense which forced one turnover after another. The Crusaders would go roughly 13 minutes without scoring before two late baskets brought the score to 22-6 at the break.

Sydney Peterson stepped up as a steadying force on the offensive end for the Cougars, she led all scorers with 16. Herbel had eight.

South (3-8) will meet Abilene for 5th place at 2:00pm Saturday at South High. The Cowgirls defeated Wichita West 54-31 on Friday.

Boys: South 56, Concordia 44

The Cougars rebounded from a loss to Buhler in the opening round, by jumping on the Panthers early and often. They built a large first half lead, and then had to hold off a valiant comeback effort by Concordia down the stretch.

Led by Te’Jon McDaniel and Devin Myers, the Cougars burned the Panthers’ 2-3 zone with seven first half three-pointers. At one point, South led by 21 at 31-10. It was 37-19 at halftime.

Concordia battled back and chipped away at the deficit, making it halfway back by the end of the third quarter. South only mustered six points and led 43-34 heading to the final period.

The Panthers would get as close as seven, but the Cougars were able to weather the storm and move the lead back to double figures at the end. McDaniel led all scorers with 22, and Myers hit four threes and scored 19.

The Cougars (5-6) will meet Abilene for 5th place at 3:30pm Saturday. The Cowboys beat Liberal 75-48 on Friday.