By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline basketball teams returned to Gypsum on Friday night to tangle with Hillsboro and worked another split in their second-to-last doubleheader of the calendar year.
Girls Game: SE of Saline 30, Hillsboro 44
Southeast started slow on the girl’s side against the fourth-ranked Hillsboro Lady Trojans, trailing 12-6 at the end of the first quarter and 26-11 at the half.
“We looked like we were playing in slo-mo in the first half and we weren’t getting to any 50/50 balls,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “They got a lot of easy putbacks in the first half and we didn’t contend those rebounds.”
Despite converting on just three field goals in the first half, Southeast continued to battle and kept themselves in the game with relentless defense.
Ultimately however, the Lady Trojans couldn’t overcome the slow shooting night, as Hillsboro converted 7-9 at the line in the fourth, pulling away in a 44-30 win.
Hillsboro was led by a trio of double-digit scorers in Savannah Shahan (16), Zaylee Werth (15), and Amyah Werth (11), while SES got ten points out of Lexi Jacobson.
With this result, Southeast drops to 3-2 while Hillsboro remains undefeated at 5-0.
Boys Game: SE of Saline 62, Hillsboro 50
On the heels of a short skid, the Southeast boys were in need of a bounceback, and they got it in convincing fashion over another Trojan foe.
SES put the locks on Hillsboro defensively in the first quarter, holding their opponent to just six points on two field goals and taking a 12-6 lead early.
Hillsboro sorted things out offensively in the second quarter, trimming the lead to nine after two, and six after three, but Southeast would pull away in the fourth to take home another double-digit win.
“I was all fired up at halftime,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “We were running to the perimeter and leaving the paint early and they were throwing passes in late. We cleared the majority of that up at the half but we did some uncharacteristic things tonight that we’ll have to clean up if we want to win big games.”
Hillsboro had two scorers in double figures in the losing effort led by Lincoln Wichert (16) and Seth Driggers (10).
Meanwhile, the Trojans of SES spread their scoring out across the board, with eight different contributors, and four double-digit scorers in Gannon Jacobson (14), Owen Bailey (13), Brenton Leeds (11), and Daniel Kejr (10).
“We did some good things offensively tonight,” Flax said. “Our balance was good and the guys did a good job of sharing the basketball but we got lazy in a few spurts.”
With this result Southeast improves to 2-3 while Hillsboro drops to 1-4.
The Trojans and Lady Trojans will have one final test before 2024 as they prepare to host Sacred Heart on Monday.