By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Wednesday night saw another thrilling back-and-forth battle between South and Central, and this time it was the girls putting on a show at the Brickhouse.
By the final buzzer, Salina South had pulled away, taking the rubber match 55-45 and punching their ticket to the sub-state championship game.
Things stayed tight in the first quarter, with Lexie Guerrero and Makambri Hastings picking up right where they left off, combining to give Central a 17-16 lead after one, and a 31-26 edge at half.
Guerrero and Hastings would score 28 of Central’s 31 first-half points, foiled only by early foul trouble and an avalanche of Lady Cougar free throws that kept South in the game.
It looked like the dynamic duo would see the Lady Mustangs through the night, but in the second half, Guerrero would foul out early, and South’s defense would hold the tandem scoreless through the third and fourth quarters.
The second half belonged to Brooklyn Jordan, who caught fire, dropping six points in the third and twelve in the fourth to undo the deficit and see South over the finish line.
The Lady Cougars scored seven field goals in the second half, Jordan accounted for six of them.
Jordan finished the night with 24 points, including six three-pointers, backed up as always by Paityn Fritz, who added 18.
Despite not scoring in the second half, Guerrero and Hastings still finished as Central’s leading scorers with 16 and 12, respectively.
The Lady Mustang season draws to a close at 13-11 while South, now 14-10, advances to play the 1-seed at Andover on Saturday night.
You can watch this game on-demand any time below.