BY ADAM COULTER
Salina Post Contributor
Sacred Heart returned home on Friday and welcomed Ellsworth to Salina for a boys and girls doubleheader.
In a closely contested opener, the Lady Bearcats held off the Lady Knights by a 54-51 score. In the boys game, Sacred Heart only trailed once in a 63-36 blowout.
The girls game was tied at 8-8 early on. Other than that, Ellsworth led wire-to-wire. Seven different Lady Bearcats scored in the opening quarter as Ellsworth held a 16-10 lead.
The Lady Knights were down by as many as eight points in the first half, but fought back to within a single possession three different times including the 26-24 halftime score.
Sacred Heart was within a single point twice in the third quarter, but could never take the lead. Trailing 33-32 and 40-39, the Lady Knights gave up the last four points of the third quarter and the first four of the final period.
The Lady Bearcats were up 48-39 and then 51-41 for their biggest lead of ten points. Sacred Heart answered with an 8-0 spurt, but could get no closer. Ellsworth ended the scoring run to make the score 54-49 and held on for a 3-point road win.
Ellsworth improves to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in league play. Sacred Heart falls to 4-6 an 2-3 in the NCAA.
Adelyn Lee led the Lady Knights with 18 points. Skylar Douglas contributed 12 and Mia Hamilton scored 11 points.
The Bearcats took an early 3-0 advantage in the boys game, but the Knights answered with 11 straight points of their own and never looked back.
The Knights led 17-10 after the opening period, 33-19 at halftime, and 52-28 after three quarters. The advantage eventually ballooned to 60-30 and the last few minutes of the game were played with a running clock.
The Knights remain perfect with a 10-0 overall record and are 5-0 in the NCAA league standings. Ellsworth is now 4-5 and 2-4.
Will Tuttle led Sacred Heart with 20 points. Noah Hines added 11, and Maddox Wells along with Ben Disberger scored eight each.
The Knights will not be playing in a mid-season tournament and are off until they travel to Beloit to face the Trojans on Tuesday, January 28.