Mustangs bury Panthers in SIT opener, 69-23

SALINA — Feeling comfortable on their home floor, the second-seeded Salina Central Mustangs shot down the seventh-seeded Concordia Panthers 69-23 in the opening round of the Salina Invitational Tournament Thursday night.
Salina Central connected on 13 of 25 three-point attempts for 52 percent in the game.
Harper Williams and David Grammer knocked down five three each for the Mustangs.
“Home court advantage is a big deal. They are a lot more comfortable shooting in their gym then somewhere else,” Concordia coach Michael Roe said.
The loss dropped the Panthers into the consolation bracket, where they played third-seeded Liberal this afternoon.
Liberal was beaten 61-49 by sixth-seeded Wichita South.
Salina South, seeded eighth, playing on its home floor, upended top-seeded Abilene 65-51 in the opening round.
Fourth-seeded Andover downed fifth-seeded Buhler 52-41 in the other opening round game.
Salina Central set an early tone against Concordia by hitting three threes, two by Harper Williams, to get out to a quick 9-0 lead.
The Panthers would give up just four more points to the Mustangs in the first quarter.
A follow by Ivon Owen and a basket by Dyelan Reed left Concordia trailing 9-4.
Mark Grammer scored four straight points to put Central up 13-4.
Jacob Rosenbaum scored in side and Dyelan Reed completed a three-point play to pull the Panthers within four points, 13-9, heading into the second period.
“I thought our guys did a good job of battling back after getting down. It started on the defensive end and limiting their offensive rebounds. I thought defensively we did a decent job the first half,” Roe said.
Concordia would go the first 5:30 of the second quarter without scoring, and Reed, the leading scorer picked up his third foul and had to sit.
Central scored six points during that stretch to make it a 19-9 game.
A basket by Rosenbaum with 2:30 remaining in the first half left the Panthers trailing 19-11.
Two free throws by Mark Grammer and a bucket by Williams put the Mustangs up 23-11.
Williams and David Grammer hit consecutive threes and Mark Grammer made a layup in the final second of the half as Central stretched the lead to 31-11.
Concordia scored the first two points of the second half on a basket by Wyatt Trost 10 seconds in.
The Mustangs made four threes during a 14-4 run that gave them a 45-17 lead.
Trost completed a three-point play, and the Panthers railed 45-20 with 3:36 to play in the third period.
Williams sandwiched a pair of threes about one by David Grammer, and it was a 54-20 game.
Central connected on seven of their first eight three-point attempts in the period.
“The second half we didn't have the same intensity,” Roe said.
The Mustangs led 56-20 going into the fourth quarter.
With a running clock in that final period, the Mustangs outscored the Panthers, 13-3.
Reed led Concordia with seven points. Trost scored five.
Williams tossed in 17 points for Central and David Grammer added 15 points.

CONCORDIA (23)
Trost 2-1-2 5, Atwood 0-1-2 1, Monzon 1-0-0 2, Owen 1-0-1 2, Carlgren 1-0-2 2, Reed 3-1-3 7, Rosenbaum 2-0-2 4, Parker 0-0-2 0. Totals: 10-3-14 23.
SALINA CENTRAL (69)
DeMars 0-0-2 0, Richardson 1-1-1 2, D. Grammer 5-0-0 15, Williams 67-0-1 17, M. Grammer 2-4-1 9, Burnett 1-0-0 3, McHenry 3-1-0 7, Kickhaefer 4-0-1 9, Stewart 1-1-3 3, Driver 2-0-1 4. Totals: 25-6-9 69.