Nov 29, 2021

2021-22 Hoops Preview: SES boys

Posted Nov 29, 2021 9:24 PM

By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor

This SES season preview is presented by Salina Ortho: Quality orthopedic care when you need it!
This SES season preview is presented by Salina Ortho: Quality orthopedic care when you need it!

The Southeast of Saline boys basketball team will look to retool and run it back after a successful 14-8 campaign in 2020-21.

The Trojans will once again be led by head coach Bryson Flax who enters his fourth season at the helm for SES.

Southeast graduated a lot of talent in the offseason, but returns a loaded junior class for the new campaign. There are still some questions surrounding the health of a few big players but the Trojan lineup should look something like this come tip-off time.

PG- Drake Augustine (Jr)
SG- Luke Gebhardt (Jr)
G- Jake Gebhardt (Jr)
G/F- Eli Sawyers (Jr)
G/F- Nakari Morrical Palmer (Jr)

SES will also look to the bench for big minutes out of Drew Richardson, Danny Kejr and Michael Murray.

Ahead of the season opener, we had a chance to catch up with Coach Flax to get his thoughts on the squad heading into the new year.

Q: Overall what were your thoughts on last year's 14-8 finish?

A: “It was an interesting season but from a program standpoint it was a very good year for us. We got a lot of guys some really good experience and an opportunity to learn under a really good senior class and at the JV level we got a lot of games in and those young guys made huge strides.”

Q: How does it feel to be somewhat back to normal this season?

A: “We’re definitely looking forward to having more spectators. You look at our early games with nobody in the gym and you create your own energy but that’s a challenge and we love playing in a high-capacity crowd.”

Q: What would you say is the greatest strength of this team coming into the new season?

A: “I think our biggest strength is our ability to pass the basketball. We have some guys with phenomenal vision for their age and if we can start hitting shots and cutting at the right time that really plays into that. We’re also fairly experienced for being so young, a handful of these juniors have played some really valuable minutes in this program”

Q: What are the biggest question marks you guys still have ahead of the first few games?

A: “We want to limit our opponents to as few possessions as possible and get on the run. The rest of it will fall into place as we get more reps but early on I want to see how we defend and compete.”

Q: What are the expectations and goals for this team this season?

A: “We want to play on a sub-state championship Saturday. We always tell them that if they give themselves a chance, anything can go in the state tournament so we have to prepare ourselves day in and day out to try to get to that Saturday and to compete at a high level when we’re there.”

The Trojans will open their season at Hesston on December third looking to avenge the loss that knocked them out of sub-state last season.

For more on SES hoops stay tuned to the Salina Post.