GREAT BEND — A go-ahead free throw from Baleigh Griffin gave the no.7 seed Ell-Saline Cardinals (3-7) an upset win over the no.6 seed Macksville Mustangs (4-6) in Thursday night’s consolation semifinal matchup at the Hilltop Hoops Classic.
Macksville’s Cindy Ibarra had just hit two crucial free throws to tie the game at 41-41 with 24 seconds remaining.
Overtime seemed almost inevitable.
With one final possession, the Cardinals were looking to get the ball to their hot hand. Griffin had not missed a shot in the second half, going 4-4 from the field.
Twelve seconds on the clock and Griffin made her move to the basket, looking for the go-ahead bucket.
She drew a foul before she was able to get a shot off. This was Macksville’s eighth team foul of the half, giving Griffin one attempt to take the lead.
One was all she needed. She sank the first free throw.
Macksville was unable to get a shot off as the final seconds ticked away and Ell-Saline walked off with a 42-41 upset victory.
Griffin led the Cardinals with 15 points on the night but her final point proved to be the most crucial. She shot 6-8 from the field.
The game was tight from start to finish. There were nine lead changes and eight ties in the contest, five of each coming in the second half.
Great shooting from Kadi Relph gave Ell-Saline a 12-8 first quarter lead. Relph scored nine of the Cardinals’ twelve first quarter points.
She finished with 13 points on 6-12 shooting.
Macksville’s Lyset Ibarra led a second-quarter Mustangs comeback. She scored the Macksville’s first five points of the quarter as the Mustangs reeled of a 13-5 run to take their first lead of the game with just over a minute remaining in the first half.
Ibarra finished with a team high 12 points, shooting 4-6 from the field.
Ell-Saline started the second half with more hot shooting, as they outscored Macksville 11-7 in the third quarter to take a 32-28 lead into the final quarter of play.
The Cardinals shot 50% from the field on the night, including 53.3% in the second half.
Macksville started the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run, giving them a 35-34 lead with 5:12 remaining.
This would be their last lead of the game.
With the win, Ell-Saline improves to 4-7 on the season. They will face Ness City in Friday night’s fifth-place game.
Macksville falls to 4-7 and will play Little River in the seventh-place matchup on Friday afternoon.
Both games will be played at Barton Community College.

Ell-Saline 42, Macksville 41
Ell-Saline: 12 9 11 10 - 42
Macksville: 8 13 7 13 - 41
Ell-Saline: Kochanowski 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 (4), Omli 0-5 0-0 3-4 3 (3), Griffin 6-8 1-2 2-3 15 (1), Brin 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 (3), Relph 6-12 1-4 0-1 13 (3), Travis 2-5 1-3 0-0 5 (2). TOTAL: 17-34 3-9 5-8 42 (22)
Macksville: Filbert 4-13 0-6 0-0 8 (5), L. Ibarra 4-6 2-3 2-2 12 (1), Vosburgh 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 (3), P. Ibarra 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 (1), Stimatze 2-6 0-0 2-4 6 (4), Russell 2-4 1-1 0-0 5 (4), C. Ibarra 2-4 0-0 2-4 6 (1), Anshutz 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 (1), Galan 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 (0). TOTAL: 16-43 3-12 6-10 41 (24)

CENTRAL PLAINS 57, ST. JOHN 40
The defending champion Central Plains girls held off a challenge from pesky St. John 57-40 in Thursday’s Hilltop Basketball Classic semifinals.
The Oilers (11-0) were led by Emily Ryan with 20 points, five assists and four steals. Janae Ryan added 12 points. The Oilers play Wichita Life Prep in Friday’s championship game.
The Tigers played a brilliant game with excellent ball movement and aggressive defense. St. John’s Tara Nelson muscled and hustled inside and outside for 22 points. Bailey Burns had nine points, six assists and five rebounds.

SJ 10 6 13 11 — 40
CP 17 17 14 9 — 57
ST. JOHN—Tara Nelson 6-8 7-7 22; Bailey Burns 4-11 1-6 9; Baley Doggett 2-2 1-3 5; Paige Doran 1-1 0-0 2; Jackie Rios 1-3 0-0 2; Kerisa Brown 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 14-26 9-16 40.
CENTRAL PLAINS—Emily Ryan 8-12 4-4 20; Janae Ryan 4-8 4-4 14; Kylee Kasselman 2-4 0-0 4; Cassidy Crites 4-6 0-0 9; Julie Donecker 2-2 3-4 7; Kristen Gunder 1-1 0-0 3; Keeley Hipp 0-1 0-0 0; Chelsey Bieberle 0-2 0-0 0; Rachel Lamatsch 0-1 0-0 0; Avery Hurley 0-3 0-0 0; Totals 21-40 11-12 57.
3-point goals—SJ 3-8 (Nelson 3-4, Burns 0-3, Brown 0-1); CP 4-13 (J. Ryan 2-4, Gunder 1-1, Crites 1-2, E. Ryan 0-1, Hipp 0-1, Hurley 0-1, Lamatsch 0-1, Bieberle 0-2). Rebounds—SJ 18 (Burns 5), CP 17 (J. Ryan 4). Assists—SJ 7 (Burns 6), CP 13 (E. Ryan 5). Steals—SJ 7 (seven with 1), CP 15 (E. Ryan 4). TO—SJ. CP 12.

LIFE PREP 57, MOUNDRIDGE 32
Life Prep’s defense held Moundridge to 28 percent and the Fire raced past the Wildcats 57-32 in the Barton Hilltop Classic semifinals. Like Prep (10-4) will play No. 1 ranked Central Plains Friday in a rematch of last year’s championship game.
Rongomi Timson led Life Prep’s balanced offense with 15 points and five steals as five players scored at least eight points. Life prep scored 22 points off 19 Wildcat turnovers. Life Prep converted 6 of 11 3-point goals.
Moundridge (8-3) was paced by Lexi Lorimor and Natalie Kaufman with seven points apiece. The Wildcats play St. John for third place.

Life Prep 1 20 10 9 — 57
Moundridge 8 7 14 3 — 32
LIFE PREP—Rongomi Timson 6-11 1-2 15; Manaia Timson 3-6 2-2 9; Regan Tibbits 2-11 2-2 7; Veronica Martinez 4-5 0-0 9; Aissatou Fall 3-7 0-0 6; Leila Blackburn 5-5 0-0 10; Totals 23-45 5-6 57.
MOUNDRIDGE—Lexi Lorimor 1-6 4-5 7; Natalie Kaufman 1-6 5-6 7; Zaelynn Foth 2-4 0-0 4; Kassidy Kaufman 2-4 0-0 4; Bethany Stucky 2-4 2-4 6; Kaela Helms 0-1 0-0 0; Ellen Durst 0-1 1-1 1; Hailey Unruh 0-1 1-2 1; Chelsey Knight 0-2 0-0 0; Keira Sebrant 0-0 1-2 1; Totals 8-29 14-20 32.
3-point goals—LP 6-11 (R. Timson 2-4, Tibbits 2-4, M. Timson 1-2, Martinez 1-1), M (). Rebounds—LP 31 (Tibbits 7, Blackburn 7, Fall 7), M 17 (Foth 5). Assists—LP 12 (Tibbits 8), M 5 (N. Kaufman 4). Steals—LP 10 (R. Timson 5), M 10 (Lorimor 3). TO—LP 17, M 19.