By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline girls basketball team showed no signs of rust on Friday defeating the then 5-1 Minneapolis Lions 55-43 in a wire-to-wire victory.
“I thought we came out and shot the ball really well for not having played since December 20th,” Lady Trojan head coach Shauna Smith said. “We were prepared for the first couple of minutes to be a challenge but we really came out and didn’t look rusty at all.”
For their efforts, Southeast moved up in the 3A rankings this week, jumping from #9 last week to #7 ahead of this week's action.
SES will need that same level of efficiency and tenacity on Tuesday night when they return home to face the 4-3 Clay Center Tigers.
Two of Clay Center’s three losses this season have come at the hands of ranked 4A opponents, dropping games to #8 Rock Creek and #2 Wamego.
The Tigers return a great deal of talent from last year's 22-1 team that didn’t suffer a single loss until late in the postseason.
“Clay Center has been on our minds since last year,” Smith said. “They’re consistently a powerhouse and we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”
This year’s rendition of the perennial powerhouse has hung their hats on defense, holding opponents to just 34 points per game on average.
“They’re going to press us full court throughout the game,” she said. “But if we can be patient and find that next open person I think we can get some really good looks.”
Fortunately for SES, the scoring spread has never been more even, with five different players averaging five or more points per night, and different combinations of those players consistently finding themselves in double digits throughout the season.
The Trojans have played excellent defense of their own this year, holding their opponents to under 40 points per game and allowing only ranked Smoky Valley to break the 50 mark.
“If we can get into the upper 40s we feel good about our chances to compete with teams like Minneapolis and Clay Center,” Smith said. “With how well our defense plays consistently we feel like that’s what we need to gain the upper hand.”
The biggest returner that SES will have to watch out for comes in the form of 5-6 senior guard Shelby Siebold, who was instrumental to Clay Center’s big run last season.
Tip-off between the Trojans and Tigers is set for 6 pm at Southeast of Saline High School with the boy’s game to follow at 7:00.
As always both games can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) courtesy of Eagle Radio.