By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Salina Central Mustangs have had the Cougar’s number in this year’s Mayors Cup series, and on Friday night, they tightened that stranglehold in a doubleheader sweep on the hardwood at Mabee Arena.
On the girl’s side, the Lady Mustangs would use hot three-point shooting to pick up their first win of the year 54-40, while the boys held on for dear life to a 63-59 victory.
Girls: Salina Central 54, Salina South 40
First-year head coach Paige Talbott’s first victory in maroon and white was an emphatic one, as her fresh-faced varsity squad began to put the pieces together against their biggest rival.
After graduating eight seniors the season prior, scoring had been an issue for the Lady Mustangs, but on Friday they found their footing, scoring 33 second-half points and pulling away in the fourth quarter.
South got off to a hot start in this contest, rattling off an 8-0 run to start the game.
Central quickly responded with a timeout and a 10-2 run of their own to even the score at 12 apiece.
The deadlock held through the intermission, and at the end of the third, the Lady Mustangs led by just four points, but from that point on it would be all Central.
All 40 of Salina South’s points came from just three players, two of which fouled out in the fourth quarter. Without Tamia Cheeks (18) and Brooklyn Jordan (8) on the floor, Paityn Fritz (14) was left to try and do all the scoring work herself.
More impressively, Central locked in defensively, allowing just one made field goal in the final eight minutes as their offense heated up.
When the final buzzer sounded eight different Lady Mustangs had scored, led by a monster performance from Tahlia Morris, who dropped 17 points behind five three-pointers.
Salina Central improves to 1-2 while South falls to 1-2.
Boys: Salina Central 63, Salina South 59
The boy's game would be one of the best, if not the best game in the state of Kansas on Friday night, with heavy firepower and late drama to delight a packed Mabee Arena.
South jumped on their rival right out of the gate, taking a 19-11 lead into the second quarter, but much like the girl’s game, Central responded with a run of their own to cut that lead to one before half.
With Kaden Snyder garnering a ton of attention down low, Finley Waltman and Kamryn Jones got to work on the outside, combining for eight made triples on the night.
The fourth quarter was an electric back-and-forth affair with 4o points scored between the two squads, but four late Kamryn Jones free throws would put the game on ice for the Mustangs who won it 63-59.
Jones and Waltman would each finish the night with 24 points, joined in double figures by Kaden Snyder (11).
South meanwhile got 15 from their leading scorer Jace Humphrey, and 9 from Gavin Devoe.
The Mustangs improve to 2-1 while the Cougars drop to 1-2 on the year.
All four teams will play at home next Tuesday as Central prepares to host Goddard, and South gets ready to entertain Newton.
Both of these games can be played back any time on-demand below.