SALINA, Kan.-The Hutch High basketball teams traveled to Salina South Tuesday night, but only the Salthawks boys came home with a victory as the Salthawk girls suffered the first loss of the season to the Cougars 36 to 28.
The Hutch High boys used a big third quarter to come away with a 56-39 victory.
In the girls contest, South held Hutchinson to just 10 first half points, and used that strong defensive effort to overcome a slow night on offense, and take a 12-10 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, South picked things up on offense, jumping out to a lead of as much as 12, but Hutchinson wouldn’t go away quietly. The Salthawks would fight back to within four in the final minutes, but the Cougars would prevail.
Sophomore Paityn Fritz led the way for South, scoring 10 points, with eight coming in the second half. Tamia Cheeks would add in nine points as well, helping the Cougars to pull away in the end and snap an eight-game losing streak to the Salthawks.
For Hutchinson, Junior Grace Posch would lead the way with 13 points, and Kaia Smith scored eight, while Senior Rachel Tomac scored five.
In the boys nightcap game, the first half was back and forth finding Hutch High leading at half time 27-20. But the second half had the Salthawks out pacing South 17-5 to pull away. In that third period, the Cougars would make just one field goal, and score the remainder of their points at the free throw line.
For Hutchinson, a well-rounded effort would aid them to victory. Terrell King would lead the way, scoring 12 points, while Daylee Vansyckle scored 11, Julian Smith added nine, and Jay Lewis scored seven to lead the way.
The Salthawks (3-0, 1-0) will return home for their home-opener on Friday against Goddard, while South (0-4, 0-1) will travel to Derby.