Feb 26, 2024

Trojans Welcome in Council Grove to Open Sub-State Play

Posted Feb 26, 2024 4:51 PM

By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post

Salina Regional Orthopedic & Sports Medicine- Your home-field advantage starts here.
Salina Regional Orthopedic & Sports Medicine- Your home-field advantage starts here.

The Southeast of Saline boys’ basketball team will open sub-state play at home today as they prepare to host Council Grove.

This sub-state quarterfinal will pit the 4th-seeded Trojans (11-9) against the 5th-seeded Braves (8-12), with both teams looking to punch a ticket to the semifinal on Thursday.

For both the boy’s and girl’s tournaments, the semifinals and championship games will all be held in Gypsum for the first time in recent memory.

“Having sub-state at home is a really good moment for Southeast of Saline,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “The last time we hosted a basketball sub-state was my sophomore year back in the early 2000s. It’s been a long time but we have good facilities, good locker room space and it’s really great to have that opportunity again.”

To return to Gypsum for another game, the Trojans will need to stay sharp on Monday against a Brave squad that has given teams trouble in spots this season.

“Council Grove plays with a lot of pace and they’re very willing to shoot the three-ball,” Flax said. “They’ve got a really good player in Brycen Palmquist and they’ve got good shooters around him. They’re not big but they’re fast, they push the ball, and they're unafraid to shoot.”

Palmquist is averaging nearly 19 points per game accounting for around 40% of Council Grove’s scoring, and Southeast will need to make his life difficult and run the Braves three-point specialists off the line.

Ultimately for Southeast, this game could very well come down to the offensive end of the floor, which at times has proven to be the lone Achilles heel for a team whose defensive excellence has been without question down the stretch.

“Our practices have gotten a lot more competitive over the year and that’s helped us on the floor,” Flax said. “We’ve gotten a lot more mature and more locked in throughout the season but we’ve gotta put the ball in the basket, we’ve been taking good shots but they have to go through.”

Tip-off between the Trojans and Braves is set for 7:00 at Southeast of Saline High School and as always, the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM/107.5 FM) or streamed with live audio and video on the Salina Post (link below)