In a close contest, the Lady Cougars fell to the Lady Panthers 54-50 on senior night. Salina South got off to a fast start against Derby in what was a tough, physical game. Paityn Fritz had 7 points in the first quarter and the Cougars led 9-7.

A couple of three point baskets from Brylee Moss of the Cougars gave the team an additional lift in a moment where it felt like all of the momentum was going in Salina South’s direction. Promyce McNeal and Elle Barth also added three point baskets in the quarter.

The Cougars were starting to get into foul trouble as Brooklyn Jordan had to sit for several minutes. On the Derby side, Macayla Askew got into early foul trouble and she sat most of the first half. The Cougars led at the half 25-18.

It was in the second half that Derby ratcheted up the pressure. They put on a full court press against the Cougars and it led to many Cougar turnovers. It was also in this quarter that Macayla Askew for Derby would come back and score 16 points in the period. With 2:30 left to go in the 3rd quarter, Derby took their first lead and never gave it back.

Brooklyn Jordan and Tamia Cheeks for the Cougars would foul out in the contest. Brylee Moss also had 4 fouls. In the final quarter, Paityn Fritz scored 12 additional points and Promyce McNeal hit a three point shot with 10 seconds left to make it a 3 point game.

After a foul on Salina South, Derby’s Aysia Fox would hit 1 of 2 free throws to extend the lead to 4. On the next inbound, Salina South had their pass stolen away and the clock ran out on the Cougars.

Paityn Fritz would finish the game with 24 points for Salina South. Tamia Cheeks had 9 and Promyce McNeal and Brylee Moss both had 6 points. Derby’s Macayla Askew finished with 26 points. With the loss, the Lady Cougars dropped to 10-9 on the season, while Derby improved to 16-3.

Salina South will host Hutchinson on Friday in a make-up game from earlier in the year and Derby will play host to Maize on Thursday.

Seniors: Tamia Cheeks

City Plumbing Heating and Cooling Player of the Game: Paityn Fritz

Scoring

Derby 7 / 11 / 24 / 12 54
Salina South 9 / 16 / 7 / 18 50

Boys

The Derby Panthers controlled the game from start to finish against Salina South on senior night. Seniors Jace Humphrey, Camden Augustine, Andrew Harris and Lawson Cassette all got the start for the Cougars and played extremely well out of the gate against the Panthers. Unfortunately, shots continued to fall for Derby and the Cougars did not have an answer.

In the end, Derby had 10 players score in the game and Cale Clingan and Jaxson Malvo both were in double figures in scoring. For Salina South, Camden Augustine had a 3 point basket in the first quarter that gave the Cougars a spark as well as Andrew Harris with a field goal that kept the contest close early on.

The Cougars were just not able to slow down the high powered offense of Derby.

The defense from the Panthers led to several shot clock violations in which the Cougars were not able to get a shot off. At the half, Derby had a commanding 36-15 lead and it grew to 58-24 by the end of the third quarter. In the final quarter of play a running clock was implemented and Derby would win the contest 66-32.

In scoring for the Cougars, Jace Humphrey ended the night with 4 points, Jaxon Myers with 8 and Gavin DeVoe with 10. For Derby, Jaxson Malvo would score 12 points, while Cale Clingan led all scorers with 16 points. With the loss Salina South fell to 7-12 on the season, while Derby improved to 18-1.

Salina South will host Hutchinson on Friday night while the Derby Panthers will host Maize on Thursday.

Seniors: Camden Augustine – Andrew Harris – Jace Humphrey – Lawson Rassette

City Plumbing Heating and Cooling Player of the Game: Gavin DeVoe

Scoring

Derby 15 / 21 / 22 / 8 66
Salina South 7 / 8 / 9 / 8 32