By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline basketball teams opened the new campaign with a road split in Lindsborg against the Smoky Valley Vikings.
Girls: SE of Saline 57, Smoky Valley 28
A dominant defensive effort led the charge for the Lady Trojans, who forced 27 turnovers in the season opener, dominating in all facets of the game.
SES opened the game on a 16-5 run and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire throughout the contest.
Offensively, things slowed a bit in the second quarter for the Lady Trojans, but out of the break Southeast exploded for 20 points on eight made field goals.
Reese Heinrich (16) and Taryn Goetz (12) led the team in scoring with new career highs. Kyiah Samuelson (10) was right behind that duo to round out double-digit scorers.
On the Smoky Valley side, no one notched double-digit scoring, with a seven-point night from Kenzley Haxton going down as the teams top score.
Southeast of Saline moves to 1-0 while Smoky Valley starts the season 0-1.
Boys: SE of Saline 57, Smoky Valley 66
The Trojans battled, but couldn’t overcome the strong 1-2 Smoky Valley punch as Kristian Ryan and Ty Heitschmidt combined to score 46 points in a Viking win.
This game was close, with the Trojans holding a two-point lead after a quarter, and the Vikings holding just a two-point lead at the half.
In the third quarter, the Southeast defense locked down, holding Smoky Valley to just nine points to reclaim a 49-46 advantage.
Unfortunately for the Trojans in the fourth quarter the dam broke, as Ryan and Heitschmidt scored 21 of their 46 points to lead the Vikings to a 66-57 win.
Southeast was led in scoring by Tiernan Ptacek, who dropped 24 points less than four days removed from leading the Trojan football team in the state championship game.
Hendrix Lund stepped up in a big way for the Trojans as well, scoring 16 points on a night that saw Smoky Valley improve to 1-0 and SES fall to 0-1.
Both basketball teams will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Hesston for a showdown with the Swathers.
You can watch these games any time on demand below.