By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline boys basketball team will survive and advance following a 49-20 win over Minneapolis.
This marks the third time this year that the Trojans defeated the Lions as Minneapolis ends their season 5-16 while Southeast advances to the sub-state semis for a rematch with Smoky Valley.
While the final score shows off a comfortable Trojan victory, the early goings of this game were anything but as Southeast struggled to score in the first quarter, leading just 6-2 going into the second.
“I thought we were pretty soft tonight,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “We were soft on the glass, we were soft offensively and when we got bumped a little bit we just quit. A win is a win and I’m happy we won but Thursday is going to be twice as physical and we have two days to figure it out.”
The Trojan defense was as good as ever, holding Minneapolis to under five points per quarter and forcing 25 turnovers while surrendering the ball just seven times, but key players looked passive on the other end in a slow night for the offense.
“You can’t have Nakari shoot zero shots in the first half,” Flax said. “He’s our most capable scorer and it’s unacceptable for him to take that few shots, I don’t care if all five guys are guarding him.”
Morrical-Palmer did lead the way with 11 points for the Trojans tonight and wasn’t the only one with an uncharacteristically low score. Eli Sawyers and Luke Gebhardt added just ten and nine points respectively but all three played staunch defense to get the job done.
Southeast will now turn their attention to their semifinal matchup with Smoky Valley on Thursday. The Trojans defeated the Vikings 64-51 back in December but a lot has changed for both teams since that early-season meeting.
“Smoky Valley is a completely different team,” Flax said. “They’re better offensively and they had some guys that are really evolving into their roles and doing different things for them.”
On the other side of the bracket, Beloit will battle Council Grove for one of two spots in the sub-state championship game on Friday.
For continuing coverage of SES basketball at sub-state, stay tuned to the Salina Post.