By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline basketball teams will enter senior night riding a pair of three-game winning streaks when they welcome in Ellsworth on Tuesday night.
Girls Game: SE of Saline (13-5, 6-2) vs. Ellsworth (8-9, 2-6)
With a sweep of Minneapolis already in hand, tonight, the Lady Trojans can secure second place in the NCAA and continue building momentum ahead of what’s sure to be a gauntlet of a sub-state field.
Tonight will also give Southeast an opportunity to honor three seniors who have helped elevate their program to new heights during their time in the purple and white.
“Brielle, Maddie, and Lexi have always been willing to do whatever it takes to win and their work ethic has set a precedent in our program,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “They play their hearts out every night and they’re great leaders on and off the court.”
The first time these two linked up, the Lady Trojans escaped Ellsworth with a 38-35 victory, and will need to be on their toes again tonight.
“In that first game, we struggled in a lot of little areas but we got through it,” Smith said. We have to slow down and handle the ball a little bit better and Ellsworth is deep with a lot of size on the inside. We’ll have to make some shots tonight and we can’t miss easy buckets.”
Tip-off for the girl’s game is set for 6:00 at Southeast of Saline High School.
Boys Game: SE of Saline (10-8, 3-5) vs. Ellsworth (15-2, 6-2)
On the boy’s side, Southeast still has a shot at the 3-seed in this year’s sub-state bracket, and can still spoil Ellsworth’s league hopes with a win on their home floor tonight.
In the first meeting between the two, Ellsworth rode a big performance from Will Cravens at the free throw line to a 44-31 win on a rough night for the Trojan offense.
“We just couldn’t score in that first game,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “They did a good job defensively and got extra opportunities but when you hold a team to 44 points you expect to be in the game and we just weren’t.”
To exact their revenge, Southeast will need to slow the best player in the league even further tonight, while ensuring that their own offense does not stagnate.
“We did an okay job of not letting Will get to the spots that he likes and we’ll have to do that again but we let Riley Stone get some easy touches around the rim,” Flax said. “We need to limit big opportunities from some of their other guys and make things more difficult for them.”