By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline girls’ basketball team put the rest of the Sterling Tournament on notice in their first matchup of bracket play, demolishing the hosts 58-21 on their own home floor.
With this win, Southeast moves to the winner's bracket semifinals to take on Hugoton this Thursday, while Sterling will match up with Smoky Valley in the consolation bracket on Wednesday.
The Lady Trojans put on a defensive clinic, allowing four or fewer points in three of the four quarters, and holding one of the best posts in Class 2A to just two total points.
“We didn’t know how the matchup with Gray was going to go but I thought Lexi Jacobson did a great job defensively,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “Eventually they stopped throwing it in there.”
In addition to limiting Sterling in the half-court, the Lady Trojans also wreaked havoc in transition, turning the Lady Bears over 24 times, including 17 in the first half alone.
“We knew that their guard play wasn’t as good as it has been in the past so we wanted to pressure there,” Smith said. "Once we got those turnovers and run-outs going we really broke the game open.”
Offensively it was a stellar night for both Reagan Goetz and Lexi Jacobson, who posted career highs of 18 and 17 respectively.
Next up is a trip to the tournament semifinals to take on another team more talented than their seeding would have you believe in Hugoton, who will challenge the Lady Trojans for a spot in the final on Thursday.
“We’re going to have to score in the 50s with Hugoton because they have some really talented players but we have girls who can get us points too,” Smith said. “We have to talk, we have to guard and we can’t have miscommunications on switches but sometimes that just happens with the flow of the game.”
On the other side of the bracket, Scott City will face Lyons with the winner earning a trip to the final while the losers will meet in the 3rd place game on Friday.
For continuing coverage of both SES basketball teams all week long in Sterling keep it locked to the Salina Post.