By Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information
One great season continues. One great season ended.
Thursday was a day for mixed results for the Lady Cardinals and Cardinals in quarterfinal action at the NJCAA national tournaments in Kansas.
The Lady Cardinals kept their dream of an unprecedented third straight national championship alive with an impressive 94-63 win against Northwest Florida State. The Cardinals dropped a 69-56 to Harcum.
Next up for the Lady Cardinals is rematch of last year’s national title game with Central Arizona in the semifinals tonight at 6. Central Arizona, the tournament’s No. 5 seed, was an 86-74 winner against Blinn in its quarterfinal.
The top-seeded Lady Cardinals, who have won 27 straight games and 10 straight national tournament games, improved to 34-1. Central Arizona is 31-2, including an 80-77 loss to the Lady Cardinals at the WNIT in Midland back in November.
Sylvia Smith-Gatson paced the Lady Cardinals against Northwest Florida with 17 points, hitting 9 of 15 free throws. Shlonte’ Allen had 16, Adut Bulgak 14, Autummn Williams 11 and Jazmine Spears 10. Spears also had 10 rebounds.
The Lady Cardinals are 10-0 in the national semifinals.
In six previous meetings against Central Arizona at the national tournament, the Lady Cardinals are 5-1. The lone loss was in the 1998 national title game.
Tonight’s other semifinal will be No. 2 Chipola against No. 3 and unbeaten Hutchinson. Chipola scored a 64-54 win against Butler. Hutchinson rallied from an early 22-4 deficit to knock off Tyler, 87-77.
The championship game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday after the5 p.m. third-place game.
Though the 12th-seeded Cardinals saw their season end in Hutchinson against No. 13 Harcum, the return home having turned in the their third most wins in school history with 29. They finished 29-7, including a 2-1 mark at the national tournament.
Octavius Ellis led the Cardinal scoring with 18 points. He also grabbed 16 rebounds.
Other top scorers for the Cardinals were Aldonis Foote with 16 and Malcolm Riley nine.
The national tournament appearance was the Cardinals’ first since 1999.
KCKL 95.9 FM will be in Salina for tonight to broadcast the TVCC-Central Arizona game. You can also listen online atwww.kcklfm.com. The game will also be available for viewing online at www.njcaatv.com.
It’s 51 and partly cloudy in Salina this morning. Today’s high is expected to reach 65. It will be cooler tomorrow andSunday with highs in the 40s, but no precipitation is in the forecast.
The Lady Cardinals definitely felt the positive thoughts and vibes sent their way from home Thursday against Northwest Florida. More tonight, please.