By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
In years past, Salina South and Salina Central would meet twice in the regular season, with the possibility of additional meetings in the SIT and postseason.
This year however, only one matchup between the two is guaranteed, and the Lady Mustangs and Lady Cougars will meet on the campus of Kansas Wesleyan tonight with a year's worth of potential bragging rights on the line.
These two teams enter this contest under different pretenses, with Salina Central looking to follow up a state championship appearance, while Salina South is in search of their first winning season since 2012-13.
Despite preseason expectations and past matchups, each team will come into this Mayor’s Cup meeting with a 1-1 record as the two sort out their identities early in the year.
“We’ve fought really hard in both games, I’m not surprised by that,” Lady Mustang head coach Chris Fear said. “We faced deficits of 11 and 9 and had to come back in each game. We were able to get a nice win at Maize and came up just short on the road against a good Hutchinson team. I’m really pleased with how well we have played with a new group on the road.”
On the other side of this matchup, Salina South will come in fresh off a 38-32 victory over St. Xavier after dropping their season opener to Goddard-Eisenhower.
“Our girls have shown a lot of toughness, energy, and effort throughout the first two games this season,” Lady Cougar head coach Justin Ebert said. “We have been frustrated for two nights on the offensive end, but defensively we have been able to continue to grind out some stops and keep ourselves in games.”
That defensive tenacity will come in handy against a Lady Mustang team that like their cross-town rivals, has put the emphasis on improving elements of their offense heading into this matchup.
While both sides take things one game at a time throughout their respective seasons, there’s no doubting the importance of this game, and what it means to the city of Salina.
“It’s always a really big deal and we don’t minimize that fact,” Fear said. “Not every community has two schools that are rivals like this, the rivalry is special and it’s important. It is a little different than we are only playing one time this year. I don’t think it makes it any bigger but knowing that we won’t get another shot at them until next season certainly puts a sense of urgency on the game.”
While the venue for this contest will move to a neutral site, the atmosphere will not be dampened, as students, parents, and fans alike are expected to flock to Mabee Arena tonight.
“This game is obviously one that gets circled on the schedule every year and we are excited for the opportunity to play in the environment this game creates in Salina,” Ebert said. “This season, the atmosphere will be a bit different than previous seasons because of the venue change, but I still expect the stands will be as full and loud as we will experience all season.”
For a Central side that has won nine of the last ten meetings between the two to continue their run of dominance, the Lady Mustangs must find ways to control the glass and value their possessions against the stingy defense of Salina South.
“They are going to defend hard,” Fear said. “They have a lot of depth so they can come after us in waves. They also have several players who can shoot the three. I think turnovers and rebounding are going to be huge factors in the game. We need to force more than we commit and be competitive on the boards. My guess is that the game will be in the 30s or low 40s so each possession is going to be critical.”
That sentiment of valuing possessions is shared by the Lady Cougars, who will look to muddy the waters once again as they look to get back on the right side of this rivalry.
“Taking care of the basketball on the offensive end and being a lot more sound in our defensive rotations will be our biggest keys,” Ebert said. “As always in a rivalry game, being able to handle when the momentum shifts to them and riding the positive momentum shifts as long as we can will also be important.”
Tip-off between the Lady Mustangs and Cougars is set for 6:00 on Friday night at Mabee Arena on the campus of KWU, with the boy’s game to follow at 7:30.
For continuing coverage of both programs all season long, stay tuned to the Salina Post.