By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Tonight, an all-area matchup will rage between the Sacred Heart and Bennington boys' basketball teams, with the winner collecting a punched ticket to this year's 2A state tournament.
Both teams have been playing their best basketball down the stretch, and each will be eager to finish the job they started when bracket play opened on Monday.
The Bulldogs (18-4) will come into this contest as the favorites, ranked as the #6 team in Class 2A, and having won nine of their last ten games, including victories of 71-21 over Northern Heights and 48-32 over Ell-Saline in the quarter and semifinals.
The Knights (13-9) will play the role of challenger but enter with a ton of confidence after eliminating the two-time defending 2A champs in Hillsboro 54-31 on Monday, and the bracket 1-seed in Chase County 58-45 on Thursday.
"Three-point shooting was the biggest asset in our win over Chase County, but our ability to handle pressure down the stretch was a close second," Sacred Heart head coach Brian Gormley said.
It's been two years since these two area teams saw each other on the hardwood, with the last meeting coming in the 2020-21 playoffs, where the Knights ended Bennington's run in a 76-28 rout.
This time, the favored shoe is very much on the other foot, and it will take a massive effort for the Knights to emerge victorious, but previous playoff experience always pays dividends for a blue-blood program like Sacred Heart this time of year.
[Bennington] plays well as a team," Gormley said. "They understand their strengths and work to get to those strengths. To have success we need to rebound, and we'll be looking for ten threes and a few big dunks in this game."
On the other side of the matchup, the Bulldogs will look for continued production out of Eli Lawson, who has averaged 17.5 points per game throughout the playoffs so far.
Tip-off between the Bulldogs and Knights is set for 5:30 at Hillsboro High School with the winner walking away with a punched ticket to Manhattan next week.
For continuing coverage of Sacred Heart and Bennington hoops all postseason long, stay tuned to the Salina Post.