By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline girls basketball team will tip-off their sub-state tournament run today with a home game against the 6-14 Lyons Lions.
SES comes into bracket play on a nine-game win streak at 17-3 while Lyons enters as the 8-seed at 6-14.
The Lady Trojans have not faced the Lions this season but the two did get a chance to see each other at the Sterling Tournament earlier this year.
“We can’t overlook a team like Lyons,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “We know that we have to come out and play every night because there are no second chances from here on. We saw them play at Sterling and they’re a scary team that can really get after it.”
For Southeast, the mission remains to make it to Hutch and the state tournament, but three more games remain ahead before the Lady Trojans can punch that ticket.
“I think anything short of a trip to state would be a disappointment for these girls,” Smith said. “I think we’ve had our hearts set on this and that’s what we’ve been working for all season.”
Lyons started their season well, flying out of the gate to a 4-2 start before falling in 11 of their last 13 games.
While the Lady Trojans have been playing their best basketball recently, the Lions will need to stop a six-game skid to pull an unlikely upset of SES.
“I think scoring has been a big problem for Lyons, they do some nice things but they struggle to finish plays,” she said. “We still have to keep our defensive pressure up and make them earn every shot.”
In addition to being the one-seed, SES enters this tournament with one of the deepest rosters at their sub-state, with a consistent rotation of ten players who all share the ball equally.
“I think we’ve come a long ways and a lot of people have stepped up for us development-wise,” Smith said. “We just have to keep our scoring up and that will probably make or break our chances of continuing to win.”
Tip-off between the Lady Trojans and Lions is set for 7 pm and will be the final game of the year played at Southeast of Saline High School.
“It’s always exciting to play at home and we always get a good crowd especially when people know it’s our last game there,” she said.
The winner of this game will advance to the sub-state quarterfinal to face either Beloit or Council Grove.
As always, the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) courtesy of Bennington State Bank.
For continuing coverage of SES basketball throughout the sub-state tournament, stay tuned to the Salina Post.