By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Salina Central girls basketball team kept the good times rolling in the state quarterfinal, dismantling De Soto 69-34 to advance to the semis.
The Wildcats season will come to a close at 15-8 while the still-undefeated 23-0 Lady Mustangs will battle it out with 20-3 Lansing on Friday for a spot in the state championship game.
Central has now outscored their opponents by 691 points this season and has won their three playoff games by a combined 102, including this one over a very talented De Soto roster.
“Everybody is good when they get here and there’s a reason that they’ve all come this far,” Mustang head coach Chris Fear said. “I really thought we defended extremely well in the first three quarters and we struggled to shoot it early on but we got going in the second quarter and built our confidence as the game went on.”
The Central defense held the Wildcats to just five points in the first quarter, and in the second, the offense found its rhythm, exploding for 29 points to take a 40-12 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Stangs rode that wave all the way to the finish line, with five different scorers contributing seven or more, three of which notched double-digits led by Hampton Williams with 15.
“We’re certainly blessed with offensive talent there’s no question about it,” Fear said. “We have multiple people who can make baskets and if somebody is struggling or the defense is focusing on Aubrie we have a lot of other players who can bring the firepower like we did tonight.”
This has been a simple business trip for Central this season, unlike last year’s team which took some time to get to grips with the pressures of the state tournament.
“I think this team is playing with a little more poise having been here before,” he said. “I was hopeful that that would be the case and having been here last year we were very determined going into this. We’ve seen the environment and we were able to focus on our game plan and stay within ourselves instead of getting caught up in the moment.”
The Lady Mustangs will now turn their attention to an 8:00 tip on Friday with 20-3 Lansing, who at #5 in Class 5A will be one of the toughest teams that Central has faced all season.
While the Mustangs will be tested on Friday, the team is looking forward to two guaranteed games this weekend regardless of result in the semifinal round.
“The first one is always tough but if you can get that one you get two more,” Fear said. “We’re excited to get that one out of the way and to lock in and play a good basketball game tomorrow.”
For continuing coverage of Central’s state tournament run in Emporia stay tuned to the Salina Post.