By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After winning just three games in as many years, the turnaround that has happened in Brookville with the Ell-Saline boys’ basketball team is nothing short of remarkable, and the Cardinals will enter the final month of their season with an 8-4 record.
All rebuilds, especially ones of this magnitude, take time to bear fruit, but after winning their first three games of the season, Ell-Saline started playing with a confidence not seen in the program in years, and that has carried the Cardinals far beyond preseason expectations.
“The best thing has been seeing that confidence and belief in ourselves as a team,” Ell-Saline head coach Marty Wendel said. “We are starting to believe more and more that we are a good team and can compete with anyone on our schedule.”
That shift hasn’t just been from season to season, in many ways, the Cardinals have been improving drastically from game to game, and the team has far surpassed even the version of itself that began the year 3-0.
In early January, Ell-Saline was ransacked by Wichita Classical in a 40-point, 66-26 defeat. Less than ten days later, the Cardinals shocked the entire 2A landscape by upsetting the Saints 54-51, handing Classical just their second loss of the season.
“Our consistency on the offensive end has definitely been the biggest area of growth for us this season,” Wendel said. “We have multiple guys that are averaging double-digits or very close which has allowed us to score enough points on most nights to give us a chance.”
While the offense has come along for the Cardinals, it will take another level of effort on the other end for Ell-Saline to go far in February, as opponents have scored between 57-66 points in the team’s four losses.
The Cardinals have shown flashes of defensive prowess in the past, and that has been enough to give Coach Wendel confidence in his guys to put the pieces together down the stretch.
“The defensive end is going to be the reason for our success in the final stretch of the season,” he said. “I have no doubt that we will score enough points to give us a chance to win games but we have got to find a way to compete at a more consistent rate on the defensive end.”
Despite featuring a roster loaded with youth, Ell-Saline has shared the ball like a veteran team, and that selfless play has been a major key to their rapid rise through the 2A ranks.
“We have been way more unselfish this year which has been a very good surprise,” Wendel said. “Sometimes with such a young team, guys think they have to do way too much which causes things to go downhill in a hurry.”
While many in Ell-Saline’s position would be content with their improvement, the Cardinals understand that if they continue playing up to their potential, they have the opportunity to do something special, which has kept expectations high in Brookville.
“I still have the goal for us of getting top four in our league and winning a game in sub-state but this group can accomplish way more than that if we can put it all together,” Wendel said. “If we are playing our best basketball there isn't a team on our schedule that we can't beat which means a shot a state birth.”
The Cardinals will be back in action on Tuesday when Ell-Saline travels to Moundridge to battle yet another ranked opponent.
For continuing coverage of Cardinals hoops all season long, stay tuned to the Salina Post.