BY ADAM COULTER
Salina Post Contributor
Sacred Heart played its final regular season games on Tuesday and came away with a doubleheader sweep of Ellsworth heading into substate.
Sacred Heart girls 58, Ellsworth 42
In the opener of the doubleheader, Sacred Heart took its biggest lead in the first quarter at 10-6, but an 8-0 run by Ellsworth put the Bearcats on top heading into the second period. The Lady Knights answered with a 13-2 run of their own and led 27-19 at halftime.
Ellsworth would play from behind for the remainder of the game as the lead was increased to 45-28 after three quarters and the Lady Knights got the win on Senior Night by a 58-42 score.
Skylar Douglas led the Lady Knights with 16 points. Katie Weiss and Adelyn Lee added 14 points apiece.
Sacred Heart ends the regular season with a 13-7 overall record and 5-5 in the NCAA league.
Sacred Heart boys 41, Ellsworth 38
Sacred Heart held a slim 3-2 lead early in the game, but once they reclaimed the advantage later in the game, they wouldn't trail again.
Much like the first meeting between the two teams, Ellsworth was hot from the field right off the bat and led 20-11 after the opening eight minutes.
The Bearcats and Knights combined for just six second-quarter points as Ellsworth was held without a field goal for over eight minutes of game time going back to late in the opening quarter. However, Sacred Heart only mustered two field goals in response as the score was 22-15 at halftime.
A 15-5 third quarter Sacred Heart run finally put the Knights back on top 30-27 heading into the final period. Ellsworth tied the score twice in the fourth quarter but wasn't able to get over the hump and reclaim the lead.
The Bearcats had a chance to tie the score at the end of regulation, but couldn't convert on their final possession as the Knights held on for a 41-38 Senior Night win.
Max Erlich led the Knights with 14 points. Will Tuttle added eight off the bench. Sacred Heart finishes the regular season 17-3 overall and 7-3 in the NCAA league.
Both Sacred Heart teams will host opening round games as part of the eight-team field of the 2A substate hosted by Wabaunsee.
The Lady Knights drew the 2nd-seed in their bracket and will face 7th-seeded Lincoln on Monday night.
The Sacred Heart boys won a coin flip with Bennington to claim the top-seed in their eight-team field. The Knights will face the 8th-seeded Republic County Buffaloes for the third time this season on Tuesday night.
Pregame is scheduled for 6:50 pm with the tipoff at 7 pm each night. The games can be seen and heard on salinapost.com.