Central Sweeps South

Mike Hammett - Tue 09:26 PM 02/12/2013

Salina Central's Brooke Peters hit a three from the corner at the final buzzer, lifting the Mustangs to a 31-29 win over rival Salina South in the girls game at the Bicentennial Center on Tuesday.

In the first quarter, both teams started slowly on offense, with Central scoring the first bucket from MacKenzie Morris with 6:38 to go in the first quarter. South would score three straight points and take the lead on a jumper by Cassidy Cook with 3:50 to go in the first at 3-2. The lead would change hands four times in the quarter before Central scored the final five points of the quarter on baskets from Shaelyn Martin and Morris to lead 9-5.

In the second, Central would stretch the lead to five on Brooke Peters' jumper with 5:19 to go in the half. South would answer with the final six points of the half, taking the lead on free throws by Janai Mitchell with 2:45 to go in the half at 14-13. Neither team would score for the final 2:45 of the half.

In the second half, Central rattled off the first seven points to grab a 20-14 lead. South would respond with six straight to tie the game at 20 on free throws by Mitchell. Free throws by Martin gave Central a 22-20 lead after three.

In the fourth quarter, South would tie the score twice early in the quarter before Central rebuilt a 27-24 lead with 2:35 to go. South would go on to score five of the next six points, going ahead on a pair of free throws by Megan Holloway to go up 29-28 with 17 seconds left. 

After the teams traded four timeouts, the Mustangs set up the final play. With five seconds left, Martin caught the ball on the right side of the lane, drove to the baseline, and kicked the ball out to Peters in the left corner for the winning bucket.

Martin led Salina Central with nine points, while Mitchell led all scorers with 13 points for South.

Central is now 11-6 overall and 5-4 in AVCTL Division I, while South is 13-4 overall and 5-4 in AVCTL Division I. Central visits Campus on Friday, while South travels to Maize.

Salina Central answered a strong start by Salina South with a 22-2 run and never let the Cougars closer than 5 points the rest of the way in a 54-40 win in the boys game at the Bicentennial Center.

South opened the game strong. After Treyton Hines knocked down the opening three of the game, the Cougars went on a 10-0 run, holding Central scoreless for nearly six minutes to go up 10-3 with 2:17 to go in the first. Central closed the quarter strong, scoring eight of the final 10 points, including a three by Hines at the buzzer, to cut the South lead to 12-11 after one.

Central turned the 8-2 run into a 22-2 run by scoring the first 14 of the second quarter to go up 25-12. South answered with five straight points, but Central picked up the final points of the half when Jordan McNelly grabbed a rebound on a deflected three-pointer and put it in at the buzzer. Central led 27-17 at halftime.

In the third quarter, South would pull within seven at 34-27 on a bucket by Shawn Smith with 1:03 to go in the quarter. Central led 36-29 at the end of three.

South would get as close as five to start the fourth quarter on a basket by Justin Stonebraker, but Central would regain a double digit lead. South would again cut it to six two more times, the last at 46-40 with 1:13 to go, before Central scored the final eight points at the line to seal the win.

Treyton Hines leads all scorers with 20 points for Central, while Conner Ryan had 16 to lead South. Justin Stonebraker added 11 for the Cougars.

Central is 11-6 overall and 7-2 in AVCTL Divsion I, while South is 6-11, 3-6 in the league.

Central visits Campus on Friday, while South travels to Maize.

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