By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The first full day of sub-state play is in the books, and after three matchups today, plus two late last week, three of our area schools are moving on to round two while three have reached the end of their 2020-21 season.
The first team in action was the Solomon Lady Gorillas, who took on two-seed Sylvan Lucas on Thursday. Solomon battled hard but fell short to the 11-4 Mustangs by a final score of 50-28.
The Lady Gorillas wrap up their season with a 4-15 record while Sylvan-Lucas advances to face Rural-Vista on Thursday.
On Friday, Solomon got another shot at a playoff win as the boys team hosted 7-10 Rural-Vista. The Heat came close to completing the upset twice but the Gorillas turned things up in double-overtime, taking the win by a final score of 70-59.
Rural Vista ends their season 7-11 while Solomon advances to the tournament semi-final on Friday to face the Sylvan-Lucas Mustangs.
Today, the first game to hit the books featured two area boys teams as the 14-3 Sacred Heart Knights played host to the 6-12 Bennington Bulldogs.
The Knights took an early lead and never looked back, beating Bennington 76-28 at the final buzzer.
The Bulldogs finish their season at 6-13 while Sacred Heart will advance to the tournament semi-final on Thursday to face Hutch Trinity, who defeated Inman tonight 59-51.
Another boys final from tonight saw Ell-Saline on the road at Hillsboro looking for their first win of the season against the top-seeded Trojans.
The Cardinals fell short, dropping their final game of the year by a final score of 68-32 to finish their season 0-20. Hillsboro will advance to play the winner of Moundridge vs. Sedgwick on Thursday.
Finally, the Southeast of Saline Lady Trojans hosted the 4-14 Kingman Lady Eagles tonight and handled their business, defeating Kingman by a final score of 55-31.
Kingman finishes their season 4-15 while the Lady Trojans advance to face Hesston in the semi-final on Thursday. The Lady Swathers knocked off Ellsworth tonight by a final score of 59-29.
Stay tuned to the Salina Post for continuing coverage of all 18 of our area schools as sub-state tournaments continue.