Four Takeaways: Salina vs Cascia Hall
Salina and Cascia Hall played in the first round of the Chouteau Invitational Tournament. The game started pretty even with both teams trading blows in the first quarter early on. However, towards the end of the first quarter Salina set the tone for the rest of the game as they opened their lead to seven. Cascia Hall struggled to find their game on the offensive end. Salina stretched their lead to 12 at the half and never looked like losing their comfortable lead. Salina went on the finish the game out winning 56-37.
Victor Holleyman 2018 Salina Guard
Holleyman was the key to Salina’s success against Cascia Hall. He ran the point effectively and limited his turnovers. He found the open man on multiple occasions with great court vision leading to easy Salina buckets. Do not think that just cause he was the provider that Holleyman did not take his part of the pie cause he did. Holleyman was the leading scorer for the game showing a beautiful stroke from the perimeter. He finished with 24 points on the night.
Salina Defense
Salina was dominant on the defensive end of the court. Cascia Hall could not find an open shot because of a tight Salina defense. After a few lapses in the first quarter, Salina held Cascia Hall to 3 points in the second quarter. Their defense was not necessarily smothering, just disciplined. They held Cascia Hall to 37 points throughout the game and held all scorers to under 7 points.
Cascia Hall’s Youth
Cascia Hall had bright moments throughout the game, but could not consistently find perform well. They showed how young they were will some dumb turnovers that led to easy Salina buckets throughout the game. Cascia seemed to be lacking heart, as they never seemed to give much effort while they were down big. No player got more than six points on the night for the Commandoes as 2020 Guard Luke Lawson and the lone senior Michael Thetford finished with six a piece. Cascia will be looking to the future as they only graduate one member of their team.
The Big Man
Jake Sitsler 2018 Post does the dirty work for Salina. In an offense that spreads the ball with four guards and preaches ball movement, Sitler’s job is to get the job done on the inside. He moves the ball well from the post and when given the opportunity attacks the basket with vigor causing the opponents to foul him. Sitsler struggled from the charity stripe shooting 4-8. Sitsler finished the game with 8 points and was the second leading scorer in the game.