By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline basketball teams got back on track on Friday night, travelling to Minneapolis and sweeping the Lions and Lady Lions in a big night of NCAA action
Girls: SE of Saline 47, Minneapolis 28
On the girls’ side of this matchup, Southeast dominated with defense, holding Minneapolis to just five first-quarter points, and just 15 at the half.
The Lady Trojans forced 24 turnovers, turned defense into offense, and held every single member of the Minneapolis lineup to single digit scoring.
Southeast got off to a slow start offensively, and at the end of a quarter the score was 6-5, but in the second, the Lady Trojans turned it on, led by Reagan Duran and her eight second-quarter points.
In the third, it was Kyiah Samuelson and Suttyn Douglas’ turn to take the reins on offense, combining to score 14 in the frame as the Lady Trojans pulled away.
Samuelson (14) and Douglas (11) both posted season highs in the win, while Minneapolis was led in scoring by Baylee Randall-Hurt (7).
With this result the Lady Trojans improve to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in league play while the Lady Lions fall to 6-4 and 3-3 respectively.
Boys: SE of Saline 52, Minneapolis 45
On the boy’s side, the Trojans were able to weather multiple Minneapolis runs, and pull away with a strong fourth quarter for their second victory of the season.
It was a strong start for Southeast, particularly on the defensive end, where the Trojans allowed just two made field goals and held a 15-8 lead after one.
Minneapolis would have cut the lead down to two at the intermission, were it not for the second Tiernan Ptacek buzzer-beating half-court shot in as many years to extend the Trojan lead.
Things stayed even in the third quarter, with both sides struggling to score, but in the fourth, the floodgates opened, and the Trojans pulled away for a 52-45 victory.
Southeast forced 14 turnovers, while conceding just 7 themselves, and the Trojans were led in scoring by Tiernan Ptacek (17) and Adam Thiel (15).
On the other side of the matchup, Owen Just (12) did his best in the losing effort.
With these results the Trojans improve to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in league play while Minneapolis falls to 2-8 and 2-4.
You can watch both games on demand below.