By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline girls basketball team wrapped up their regular season on a high note with a 49-14 manhandling of the Republic County Lady Buffaloes.
The Lady Trojans will head to sub-state as the #1 seed with an overall record of 17-3 and with this win, cap off a second consecutive undefeated league title against the NCAA.
Southeast dominated this game from start to finish, allowing just a single free throw in the first quarter and just two field goals in the first three quarters.
Offensively, SES once again had ten players in the scorebook and three in double figures with 11 points from Brielle Ptacek, Avery Caselman, and Reagan Goetz.
After a long break, the Trojan offense had some rust to shake off early but found ways to turn defense into offense, forcing 21 turnovers, 16 of which came in the first half.
“We talked about this being a hard place to play and about how we had to keep our concentration,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “I thought we did a good job of creating momentum with our transition defense”
Just three Lady Buffs found the scoresheet tonight, led by a nine-point performance from Avery Stindt.
While the brackets have not yet been finalized, SES will host either Ellsworth or Lyons in the first round of sub-state next Tuesday.
The Lady Trojans already took care of Ellsworth twice this season with finals of 60-34 and 52-22, and Lyons will enter this tournament with an overall record of 6-14.
Either way, SES will need to stay sharp in the week between this game and that one. The Lady Trojans will also officially enter this sub-state tournament ranked as the #7 team in Class 3A.
“We’re going to do some light work tomorrow to keep us going,” Smith said. “We missed a lot of easy bunnies right around the basket tonight and those are shots we need to have if a game is on the line.”
For continuing coverage of both SES basketball teams at the sub-state tournament stay tuned to the Salina Post.