Girls Final
Valley Center 41
Salina South 54
Salina South celebrated 8 seniors tonight with a victory over Valley Center. The Cougars got off to a hot start against the Lady Hornets and led 19-9 after the first quarter thanks to 11 points early on from Paityn Fritz. Sophie Daily and Lauren Crow early on provided a spark off the bench and energized the Cougars to an early lead. Salina South kept Valley Center at arms length the rest of the night and had a comfortable lead throughout the rest of the game. Valley Center played hard but were not able to get past the size of the Lady Cougars.
Paityn Fritz ended the night with 23 points to lead all scorers. Brooklyn Jordan also contributed 12 points and Brylee Moss had 6. For Valley Center, they were led in scoring by Avery Davison who had 10 points with 9 of those coming from the three point line. Rachel Garten and Morgan Morris both contributed 9 points apiece.
A special moment late in the game, Salina South was able to substitute out the rest of their seniors one last time. Promyce McNeal who had a season ending injury earlier in the year was able to suit up and take the court one last time before the buzzer. The other seniors, Elle Barth, Brooklyn Jordan, Brylee Moss, Sophie Daily, Isabelle Maxton, Lauren Crow and Paityn Fritz all had significant playing time tonight.
With the win, Salina South improved to 13-9 overall and will finish the season at Derby on Tuesday. Valley Center, with the loss, dropped to 5-15 overall.
Boys Final
Valley Center 44
Salina South 47
On the boys side, Salina South celebrated 6 seniors tonight, hanging on beat the Valley Center Hornets. Early on Salina South controlled the pace of the game on the offensive and defensive side. They led 32-15 at the halftime break and it appeared they weren’t going to slow down.
However, coming out of the second half, Valley Center ratcheted up defense and physicality. Slowly but surely, the Hornets cut in to the Cougar lead and with under a minute to play, got it to within 3. With 5 seconds left, Salina South inbounded the ball, but a pass intended for Easton Wilcox was too high for him to handle, landing out of bounds with 1.1 seconds remaining. Valley Center had one last chance for the tie and they had a great look, but Rylan Bailey missed the open three at the buzzer.
The Cougars were led in scoring by Easton Wilcox and Gavin Devoe with 12 points apiece. Jaxon Myers and Kobie Henley had 7 and Sawyer Walker had 9. For Valley Center, they were led in scoring by Preston Looney, Ray J Logan and Evan Chavez all with 10 points each.
Salina South started 5 seniors in the game. Easton Wilcox, Jaxon Myers, Kyler Webb, Jalen Cheeks and Gavin Devoe all got the start. The other lone senior Sawyer Walker checked in shortly after tip off.
With the win, Salina South improved to 15-7 overall and have seemingly locked up a home playoff game. They will finish the regular season at Derby before the post season. With the loss, Valley Center dropped to 8-13.
