By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline girl’s basketball team began their playoff push with a bang on Thursday night, sending Wichita Collegiate packing in a 60-38 blowout at the purple palace.
Collegiate kept this game competitive off the starting line, staying within four points at the end of the first quarter, but from there, the Lady Trojans turned on the afterburners and flew to the finish line of a 22-point win, leading by 15 at halftime and 21 after three.
Ball security played a huge role in this matchup as Southeast managed to force 14 turnovers while committing just seven themselves.
In another hallmark of Lady Trojan basketball, SES completely shut the Lady Spartans down in the third quarter, allowing just one made field goal and four measly free throws.
Meanwhile offensively it was another true team effort for Southeast on a night where seven different Lady Trojans chipped in at least one bucket.
Kyiah Samuelson led the charge in her postseason debut, rattling off 17 points to lead all scorers.
Samuelson wasn’t the only freshman with a hot hand, as Reese Heinrich added 11 more points, and veteran Aba Pearson contributed 16 more to the cause.
Julia Herrman (15) and Clara Monahan (9) did all they could for Collegiate, but the Lady Spartans simply lacked the firepower necessary to match pace with Southeast.
For Wichita Collegiate the season comes to a close at 8-13 while the Lady Trojans improve to 15-5.
Next up for SES is a trip to Manhattan to tangle with the 15-5 Riley County Lady Falcons next Tuesday at 7:00.