By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline basketball teams will close out their regular seasons on Tuesday night when they make the long trip to Republic County to battle the Buffaloes.
Girls Game: SE of Saline (14-5, 7-2) vs. Republic County (0-19, 0-9)
Tonight will be a big one for the Lady Trojans, who have the opportunity to clinch a share of another league title, as well as an outside shot at securing the 4-seed at this year’s sub-state tournament with a win in Belleville.
“We’ve talked about the situation with league and this is a chance for a fourth straight league title which is a big deal to us,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “We need to take care of business and this is a big game for sub-state as well and for a chance to possibly host in the opening round.”
Southeast handled their business the first time these two got together back in early February in a 56-34 win, and will need a similar performance tonight to cap off the regular season on a high note.
“Republic County is a hard place to play but we have to have full concentration tonight,” Smith said. “They’ve made big improvements and they’ve been close to beating a few teams even if they haven’t done it yet. We have to convert our buckets around the rim
Tip-off between the Lady Trojans and Buffaloes is scheduled for 6:00.
Boys Game: SE of Saline (10-9, 3-6) vs. Republic County (1-18, 0-9)
Southeast of Saline has something big to play for on the boy’s side as well as with a win and an Osage City loss, the Trojans could still steal the 3-seed at this year’s sub-state tournament.
This game will also be the only contest in a span of twelve days before sub-state begins, giving Southeast one last chance to fine-tune things ahead of elimination basketball.
“We’re really looking for guys to get to quality spots for themselves,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “Sometimes that’s by getting set up by a teammate, sometimes it’s concept design but we haven’t been putting ourselves in positions to be successful recently. Our lack of offense has overshadowed our pretty solid defense in this stretch but at the end of the day you have to score points.”
The first time these two teams met on the hardwood the Trojans dominated, bashing the Buffs 74-33 in a Gypsum rout.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of earning extra opportunities and creating turnovers in that first game,” Flax said. “We dominated on the glass and that was a big help to our effort.”
The boy’s game is set to follow the girl’s at approximately 7:30 in Belleville.