The Sabetha Bluejays opened the 2020-21 season Friday night hosting Marysville and the two schools played to a split with the Lady Jays taking the opening game 45-28 while the Bulldog boys won the night cap 62-42.

Girls: Sabetha 45, Marysville 28

The No. 5-ranked Sabetha Lady Jays used a dominant defensive performance and got clutch play from senior Melinna Schumann to start the season off 1-0. 

Sabetha opened the game quickly jumping out to an 11-2 win after the first quarter behind seven points from Schumann while turning Marysville over eight times in the quarter. 

The Lady Jays forced six more turnovers in the second and pushed their lead to 20-7 going into halftime behind six points from senior Leah Renyer. 

In the third is when Schumann really got going for Sabetha as the all-state selection from a year scored 10 points in the quarter to give the Lady Jays a 35-24 lead going into the fourth. 

Schumann would go on to score four more points in the fourth to ice the game away while Sabetha’s defense held Marysville to just four points in the final frame. 

Schumann led Sabetha with a game-high 21 points in the win, while Renyer added 13. 

Marysville was led by Linda Franco who finished with seven points while both teams struggled from the free throw line combining to shoot 6 of 30. 

Next up for Sabetha (1-0) is a road game Tuesday at Wamego, while Marysville (0-1) travels to Valley Heights. 

Boys: Marysville 62, Sabetha 42

From start to finish Friday night the Marysville boys used their defense to turn into offense and hit big shots throughout in a 62-42 victory over Sabetha. 

The Bulldogs quickly led 18-5 after one behind seven points from senior Gavin Pieschl and extended their lead to 29-13 at the half thanks to five second quarter points from senior Jackson Rader.

Marysville quickly put the game out of reach in the third quarter behind six points from Ben Kirkland and took a commanding 48-26 lead going into the fourth which the Bluejays could never recover from. 

The Bulldogs were led by Rader who had 17 points in the contest while Pieschl and Peyton Smith added nine. 

Sabetha got a big night from senior Kaleb Evans who scored a game-high 19 points, but no other Bluejay scored more than six points. 

Next up for Marysville (1-0) will be a big game at Valley Heights on Tuesday while Sabetha (0-1) travels to Wamego.