Picture courtesy of Diane Dowell

The #4 seeded Ell-Saline Cardinals were back in action Wednesday night in a sub-state semifinal matchup as they welcomed the #5 seeded Trego Community Golden Eagles to Brookville. Ell-Saline used big games from Seniors Trey Williams and Reese Krone and held off a late Golden Eagles surge to head to their 3rd straight sub-state championship game with a 64-52 victory.

BOYS: ELL-SALINE 64, TREGO COMMUNITY 52

Ell-Saline started off strong as they fed big man Reese Krone down low to begin the game. Krone was able to find 9 points in the quarter and Kas Kramer added 5 points as the Cardinals raced out to an 18-8 lead after the 1st quarter.

The Cardinals defense continued to dominate in the 2nd quarter as they gave up just 6 points in the frame. Reese Krone added another 8 and Trey Williams scored 6 in the quarter as the Cardinals took a 32-14 lead into the locker room.

Coming out of halftime the Cardinals continued to control the ballgame but Trego was starting to find their rhythm offensively. The Cardinals still won the quarter 15-10 and held a big 47-24 lead going into the final stanza.

Trego and Freshman Vladon Crawford were not going to go away quietly. The Golden Eagles freshman scored 13 of his team high 18 points in the quarter. Trego brought it within 8 at one point before the Cardinals hit some big shots including 8 points from Williams in the quarter. Trego outscored Ell-Saline 28-17 in the quarter but it was the Cardinals pulling away late to secure the 12 point win.

Trey Williiams led the way for Ell-Saline as he knocked down a game high 22, also tying his career high. Reese Krone (21) also reached double figures for the Cardinals.

Vladon Crawford finished with a team high 18 points in the loss, Aceton Walt added 15 as the other Golden Eagle in double digits.

Ell-Saline moves to 18-5 on the season and will get a rematch against the #1 team in Class 2A the Sterling Black Bears in Smith Center on Saturday with a trip to the 2A State tournament on the line. Sterling won an earlier regular season matchup against the Cardinals 81-56 on February 20th in Sterling. Trego finishes the season with a 17-7 overall record.

CITY PLUMBING HEATING AND COOLING PLAYER OF THE GAME: Trey Williams (22 Points) & Reese Krone (21 Points)

BOX SCORE

TREGO COMMUNITY (17-7) – 8 – 6 – 10  – 28 / 52

ELL-SALINE (18-5) – 18 – 14 – 15 – 17  / 64

Individual Scoring

Ell-Saline – Trey Williams 22, Reese Krone 21, Kas Kramer 9, Branton Gosvener 7, Collin Dent 5.

Trego Community – Vladon Crawford 18, Aceton Walt 15, Westyn Windholz/Mason Yingling/Hudson Deines 5, Julian Mejia/Christopher Ghumm 2.