By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline girl’s basketball team battled valiantly but ultimately came up short in this year’s Sterling Invitational semifinals, falling to Hugoton 50-39.
The Lady Trojans, now 8-2 on the season, will face Lyons in the third-place game on Friday while the Lady Eagles advance to take on Scott City in the championship game.
Lexi Jacobson helped keep SES in the game early, scoring six of Southeast’s nine first-quarter points, but a second quarter that saw the Lady Trojans outscored by nine allowed Hugoton to pull away, mitigating an eventual fourth-quarter comeback effort.
A furious full-court press helped SES cut the deficit from 15 to 5 in the final frame, but the push expended the Lady Trojans’ tank as Hugoton pulled away late.
Three different Lady Eagles notched double-digits in the win, led by Summya Adigun (19), Mikyn Hamlin (13), and Emily Tinoco (10).
Lexi Jacobson and Brielle Ptacek provided most of the Lady Trojan offense on the day, with Jacobson leading all scorers with 20, and Ptacek not far behind with 16.
The third-place game with Lyons will be held at Sterling College on Friday at 3:00 and will once again be streamed on the Salina Post, and heard on KINA.
For continuing coverage of both SES basketball teams on the final day in Sterling, stay tuned to the Salina Post.