By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After breezing through Scott City 72-48 in the semifinals, the Southeast of Saline boys’ basketball team will play in the championship game of this year’s Sterling Invitational against the Hugoton Eagles on Friday night.
The Trojans enter this game still undefeated on the season at 10-0 and ranked as the #1 team in Class 3A while Hugoton enters at 9-2 after eliminating Sterling on Thursday.
Much of Southeast’s success this week has come from their excellence on the boards and energy play in transition, something that was sparked by Drake Augustine in a blowout win over Scott City.
“We’ve rebounded at a really good rate this week and we’ve been efficient on both ends,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “One thing that really stood out last night was how good Drake Augustine was, defensively, in the half-court, in transition, our guys fed off of his energy and we turned them over a ton with 19 steals as a team.”
While in years past the finale of the Sterling Invite has been overshadowed by bigger semifinal matchups, there is little doubt that this is the game everyone has wanted to see, as two of the top teams in the state do battle on Friday night.
“From what I’ve seen on film these are the two best teams in the tournament and Hugoton is really good,” Flax said. “They’ve got a majority of a team back that if they didn’t run into Hesston in the first round would have made a run. They’re very well coached and they can get you from a lot of different angles.”
While a first-ever Sterling Tournament title would be a nice feather in the cap of the Trojans, it’s not something Southeast has spent much time dwelling on, with bigger fish to fry in preparation for a potential game like this in early March.
“If there’s any added inspiration from the fact that we haven’t won this tournament before we haven’t talked about it and I’m not aware of it,” he said. “We know that this is the type of team that you’re going to play on a Saturday in Hutch and to see that now and to play with a team like this is big.”
With a deep roster of deadly shooters, SES will have their hands full dealing with guys like Ryle Riddlesperger, who went off for 37 points in the semifinal with Sterling, Carson Bennett, who scored 20 on Tuesday against Kingman, and Desean Lewis, the point guard who makes it all possible.
“Hugoton might be the best team we’ve played yet,” Flax said. “What makes them so unique other than their ability to defend is their ability to score from anywhere and if you give them any opportunities nine times out of ten they’re going to make you pay for it. They share the ball well, they’re hard to guard and they’re exceptionally well coached.”
To pass their biggest test yet, the Trojans will need immaculate defense, and enough rhythm offensively to win a shootout if the pace of the game shifts in that direction.
“We have to be good in help,” he said. “We have to close out hard because an arm's length away is too much space with some of these kids. We also need to understand their personnel as we switch and we can’t give them extra opportunities.”
Tip-off between the Trojans and Eagles is set for 7:30 pm at Sterling College, and as always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) or streamed with audio and video on the Salina Post.