Salina Central basketball teams split with Andover: Five takeaways

Playing the same team three times can be challenging.

For the third time this season, the Salina Central boys and girls basketball teams battled Andover on Friday night at the Central gym.

The two teams last met in the Salina Invitational Tournament with the Central girls defeating Andover 56-36 on Jan. 22, while the Andover boys edged Central,62-58 the day before.

In a repeat of the previous meetings, Central's girls and Andover's boys prevailed again. The Central girls beat the Trojans, 54-42, while the Andover boys, 58-45.

The Central girls, ranked No. 1 team in Class 5A, are now 18-0 overall and 11-0 in Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division II play, while the Central boys are 8-10, 5-6.

Aubrie Kierscht led the Central girls with 17 points, while Brooke Walker had a game-high 24 for Andover.

Sid Duplessis led the Central boys with 15 points andEli Shetlar had a game-high 19 for Andover.

Here are five takeaways from Friday's doubleheader:

50 is the magic number offensively for Salina Central's girls

In 17 games this season, the Central girls have not scored less than 50 points in a single game. Their season-low was 50 on Jan. 7 at Andover.

After having 25 points and holding the Trojans to 20 at halftime, the Mustangs picked it up in the third quarter even when Andover led by as many as four.

"Our goal defensively is to hold (opponents) to 40 or less," Central coach Chris Fear said. "That's more of what we kind of think about. I thought we played really well the last three minutes of the third quarter and then got a little bit of separation.

"I thought we wore them down. I thought Andover got tired and we were able to take advantage in the fourth."

Kierscht said the Mustangs are just looking for ways to win.

"We just play the game of basketball," Kierscht said. "So if that means 50 points on the scoreboard, that means 50 points on the scoreboard."

Kierscht's makes three huge 3s to create separation over Andover

After being held to three points in the first half, Kierscht came up big in the third quarter.

She connected on three 3-pointers, the first of which pulled the Mustangs within one at 32-31. The second tied the game at 34 and the final one gave Central a 45-38 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

"They were kind of taking Aubrie away for a little bit," Fear said. "It's going to be hard to do that the entire game. If she gets a clean look or two (and) gets going, you just think she's going to knock some in."

Central had to go to its outside game with senior post Chalisicia Samilton in foul trouble.

"I think we stuck together tonight," Kierscht said. "We kind of had a little bit of adversity."

Salina Central girls win AVCTL-II regular-season championship outright

For the first time since the 2013-14 season, the Central girls are Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League champions. The previous title came in AVTL Division I.

The Mustangs secured at least a share of the league championship on Tuesday against Valley Center and Friday's win clinched it outright.

"To win it outright, it's important," Fear said. "It's a big deal for us and it proves over the entire season the work you put in. We've got another week to go but we're pretty excited with winning this league title."

Winning the AVCTL-II regular-season championship is just the second box that has been checked off the Mustangs' goal list. The next? A sub-state championship and a second straight trip to the Class 5A state tournament in Emporia.

"It's something that we haven't been able to do yet," Kierscht said. "There's still a lot more to be accomplished."

Fourth-quarter drought haunts Salina Central boys once again

The Central boys led Andover, 33-25, with 1 minute, 55 seconds left in the third quarter.

But Andover then used a 20-1 run, including a 12-0 spurt to start the fourth, to pull away and spoil the Mustangs' senior night festivities.

"They hit some shots," Central coach Ryan Modin said. "We had poor shot selection and really bad turnovers. We played hard at times, and there's other times we were just kind of flat."

Central and Andover were tied at 11 at the end of the first quarter with Andover holding a 21-19 advantage at halftime.

Salina Central honors its senior basketball players

Even with one home doubleheader remaining on the schedule, Tuesday against Newton, Central honored its senior class for both boys and girls basketball.

Kierscht, Samilton, Hampton Williams, and Landry Stewart make up the Central's girls senior class.

"We didn't want to get out of here without winning for them," Fear said. "They have meant a great deal to this program and arguably the best class that's ever come through here. It was important for us to get this done for them tonight."

Duplessis, Hayden Vidricksen, Freddy Ruffin, Parker Kavanagh, Micah Moore and Nolan Puckett are the Central boys' seniors.

"They're a close group and they're very easy to like," Modin said. "I want them to get over that hump and have that big signature win. Those are still out there.

"There's that opportunity down the stretch here. Hopefully, (we'll) get it going and you get in sub-state and you're playing your best basketball and the ball's going in a little bit more than what it did tonight."

Dylan Sherwood has been a sports reporter for the Salina Journal since August 2019. He can be reached at dsherwood@salina.com or on Twitter @DSherwoodSJ

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: 5 takeaways from Salina Central's doubleheader against Andover