By ADAM COULTER
Salina Post Contributor
Sacred Heart welcomed Minneapolis to Salina Friday night as the 2024-25 high school basketball season resumed following the holiday break.
In two closely-contested games, the Minneapolis girls held off Sacred Heart 52-47 while the Knights pulled away in the boys game for a 60-44 win and a doubleheader split.
The Minneapolis girls took an early 3-0 lead in the first game of the evening, but the Lady Knights finished the opening quarter on a 9-2 run to go up by two possessions.
The Lady Lions came back in the second frame to regain the lead by as many as six points and held a 21-18 advantage at halftime.
Sacred Heart fell behind by as many as nine points in the third quarter, but refused to let Minneapolis pull away. Heading into the final period the Lady Knights trailed 34-29.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the fourth quarter with the Lady Lions still leading 50-44 and, down the stretch, just 4.3 seconds on the clock. It was then that Sacred Heart's Skylar Douglas was fouled while attempting a three-point basket. She calmly made all three free-throws to cut the six-point deficit to three.
The Lady Knights quickly fouled Maci McClure who sank her 13th and 14th free-throws to seal the five-point win for Minneapolis.
Sacred Heart was led by Douglas and her game-high 22 points. Adelyn Lee tallied 11 and Bethany Campa added a season-high eight points. Minneapolis was led by McClure and Baylee Randall-Hurt scoring 18 points apiece.
In the boys game, the Lions came in with just one win while the Knights were unbeaten. Despite that, Minneapolis gave Sacred Heart a battle that wasn't out of reach until the fourth quarter.
The Knights found themselves looking up at a 18-15 deficit after the opening quarter before taking a 29-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.
On top by a 42-35 score after three quarters, Sacred Heart took a double-figure lead in the final period and pulled away for a 16-point victory to remain perfect.
The Knights were led by Will Tuttle and Noah Hines with 18 points each. Owen Just led Minneapolis and all scorers with an even 20 points.