By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
In yet another all-area matchup, the Southeast of Saline basketball teams traveled to Abilene on Tuesday to square off with the Cowboys and Cowgirls.
The two teams split the series with the Southeast girls coming out on top to continue their dominance over the Cowgirls, and the Abilene boys exacting their revenge on the Trojans.
Girls Game: SE of Saline 42, Abilene 22
Southeast got off to a hot-shooting start in the girl's game, closing the first quarter on a big run to take a 20-5 lead into the second quarter.
“We got out and ran the ball the way we’ve talked about doing and we were pushing them for some easy buckets,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “Once they settled in though, those didn’t come as easy.”
Abilene made several key adjustments in the second half, surrendering fewer points in transition defensively and activating Claira Dannefer offensively, who scored seven in the second to trim the Lady Trojan lead.
From there however, the SES defense tightened the screws, allowing just five more points in the third quarter, and just one in the fourth to secure the victory.
“I thought everybody did a good job on defense,” Smith said. “We gave them some buckets in the second quarter but we didn’t let up much in the second half.”
The Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Maddie Harris (13), Lexi Jacobson (10), and Brielle Ptacek (8), while Abilene got the lions share of their points from Dannafer (12).
With this win, Southeast moves to 3-1 while Abilene falls to 0-4.
Boys Game: Abilene 64, SE of Saline 53
The 8th-ranked Cowboys came in as the favorites in the boy’s matchup and flexed their muscle early with five different players scoring in each of the first two quarters.
Brax Fisher led the way at the half as the only scorer in double digits for either side in a game that saw Abilene ahead 30-24.
The Trojans battled down the stretch, closing the gap to single digits a few times, but the Cowboys simply had too much firepower, pulling away late to put the game out of reach.
“We were there for the majority of the night but we got dominated on the glass and we didn’t finish a lot of shots at the rim,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “We can draw stuff up but it all comes down to getting stops and getting buckets, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Fisher put on a masterclass, scoring 26 points, and receiving help from six different teammates, most notably a 10-point performance from Stocton Timbrook.
Meanwhile, in the losing effort, the Trojans got 18 points from Gannon Jacobson, and 14 from Brenton Leeds.
With this result, Abilene remains undefeated at 4-0 while Southeast falls to 1-3.