By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline girl's basketball team couldn’t overcome a slow night on offense, as they fell 53-39 in their season opener to Hesston.
Despite falling behind 13-4 at the end of the first, the Lady Trojans rode four second-quarter threes, including three by Brielle Ptacek, to even the halftime score at 24-all.
Unfortunately for Southeast, the run stopped there, as Hesston put up 18 third-quarter points and never looked back en route to the victory.
“They played us really fast and physical and we never really settled in,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “At the end of the day we have to put the ball in the basket.”
The Lady Swathers were led in scoring by a trio of double-digit scorers, with Abby Proctor (18), Kendal Brueggen (15), and Callie Yoder (11) all posting strong performances.
On the other side, the Southeast was led in scoring by Maddie Harris and Brielle Ptacek, who each chipped in 12, but got just 15 points of aid from the rest of the team.
Despite struggling to score, SES debuted a pair of promising newcomers, and the rotation for the Lady Trojans is starting to take shape.
“Suttyn Douglas and Regan Duran had some moments we got on them for but I thought they did a really good job and they’ll continue to get better and better every night,” Smith said.
Southeast won’t have to wait long for a potential bounce back as the Lady Trojans travel to Lindsborg to square off with Smoky Valley next Tuesday.