By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The final day of the first round of sub-state bracket play is in the books and of our 18 area teams who entered 9 will be advancing to the next round.
Tonight saw four schools in action spread throughout three games. The first to go final featured the Chapman Lady Irish on the road at Clay Center where they fell to the undefeated Lady Tigers by a final score of 53-11.
Chapman will wrap up its season at 1-16 while Clay Center advances to the tournament final to face Concordia on Saturday.
The second of our three games today featured both Salina boys teams with the South Cougars playing host to the Central Mustangs.
Despite being the underdog, Central jumped out to an early lead and finished the first quarter up 13-3.
The Cougars however, returned to form, retaking the lead late in the third quarter and holding it until the final horn knocking off the Mustangs 46-33.
Central finishes it’s 2020-21 campaign at 6-14 while South advances to the sub-state final to face the #1 team in class 5A in the Hays Indians.
Hays knocked off Great Bend by a final score of 58-38 tonight and will host the Cougars on Saturday.
The third and final game of the day saw the Abilene Cowgirls on the road at Concordia.
Abilene took an early 12-7 lead into the second quarter and kept the game tied at half, but little by little the Panthers pulled away, knocking off the Cowgirls by a final score of 57-52.
Abilene finishes their season 4-14 while Concordia advances to face #2 Clay Center on Saturday.
Round two of sub-state tournament play will begin tomorrow and will continue through the weekend. The final schedule as far as it has been released is as follows.
Thursday
8pm: Southeast of Saline girls at Hesston (Hesston High School)
8pm: Sacred Heart boys vs. Hutch Trinity (Ell-Saline High School)
Friday
5:30pm: Solomon boys vs. Sylvan-Lucas (Canton-Galva High School)
7pm: South girls vs. Central girls (Central High School)
7pm: Abilene boys vs. Concordia (Abilene High School)
8pm: Southeast of Saline boys at Hesston (Hesston High School)
8pm: Sacred Heart girls vs. Moundridge (Ell-Saline High School)
Saturday
3pm: South boys at Hays (Hays High School)
Stay tuned to the Salina Post for continuing coverage of our eight remaining area teams.