By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
As we officially enter the home stretch of the high school hoops season, the Fighting Irish and Trojans will meet in Chapman on Friday night, looking to kick off the month of February with a big win.
Southeast of Saline comes into this contest at 13-1, ranked as the #2 team in Class 3A while Chapman enters at 4-10 but fresh off back-to-back wins at home against Holton and at Clay Center.
“I think overall we’re starting to play better together as a team,” Irish head coach Drew Gruver said. “The guys are starting to accept their roles and work to fulfill those as best as possible. I think we are starting to operate and think as one unit with no selfish motives and it’s amazing how much can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit.”
In these last two games, Chapman’s offense has begun to peak, with the Irish posting a season-high 66 points in their win at Clay Center on Tuesday.
“Chapman is shooting the ball a little better and that obviously helps,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “They’re able to knock down some shots that they need to hit and they're also starting to figure things out defensively.”
In order to continue that success, the Irish will have to overcome a team that few have had an answer for this season in Southeast, who have themselves, been playing at a very high offensive clip as of late.
“They are very good at all aspects of the game,” Gruver said. “They have good players that can defend, pass, dribble, and shoot, and their size and athleticism make them tough. Sawyers and Morrical-palmer are guys that we have to keep in check.”
Meanwhile, to keep the good times rolling in the new year, the Trojan focus this week has been on handling their business once again, without the fear of a potential trap game.
“I don’t worry about us overlooking anybody because we have a very mature group that’s been through this before,” Flax said. “We’ve played teams with really good records and followed it up with teams who haven’t looked as good and we haven’t really fallen off. This game is about fine-tuning ourselves and finding ways to get better and trusting that the result will take care of itself.”
Ultimately, the game on the glass will play a big role in this one, as the Irish can ill-afford to give the Trojans extra looks around the basket if they want to pull off the upset at home.”
“We have to get stops on the defensive end,” Gruver said. “Boxing out and rebounding will be big for us as well. We have to keep them out of the paint and not let them score easy baskets inside. Offensively we have to value the ball and handle their defensive pressure. We need to be patient on the offensive end and continue to play together and take great shots for us to have a chance to win.”
Those keys apply to Southeast in this game as well, as they will once again have some size to contend with on the other end.
“They have a big kid inside that they like to give post touches to so they can work inside out,” Flax said. “Defensively we’ve seen them play quite a bit of man and a little zone. They’re improving as a whole and that’s what you want to do this time of year, they also play better at home and we know they’ll be ready for us.”
Tip-off between the Trojans and Irish is set for 7:30 pm at Chapman High School, following the girls’ game at 6:00.
Both games can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) or streamed live on the Salina Post with both audio and video.