By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline boys basketball team secured their first outright league title since 2006-07 with a 74-34 beatdown of the Ellsworth Bearcats on Tuesday night.
This win also moves the #7 ranked Trojans to 16-3 and marks their sixth straight win over Ellsworth as well as their ninth straight win during this streak.
Southeast was excellent early, forcing 15 first-half turnovers to take a 47-22 lead into the intermission.
“We were good defensively and I thought we did a nice job in transition,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “We turned them over a bunch and it was showtime for a little bit which was good to see.”
The Trojans were led by another 21-point masterpiece from Eli Sawyers, who was joined in double figures by the usual suspects of Nakari Morrical-Palmer and Luke Gebhardt.
SES also shared the ball with ruthless efficiency, maybe even a little too ruthless at times.
“I thought there were a few times where we were a little too unselfish and made a few extra passes that we didn’t need,” Flax said. “I appreciate it but at the end of the day it’s about getting buckets and we have to convert.”
Southeast held Ellsworth superstar Will Cravens to just 11 points tonight, keeping him at under 20 total in the two meetings between them.
This game also featured an unofficial dunk contest as SES rocked the rim three times in the first half alone, energizing another great crowd.
“The students were good and hopefully that stays consistent,” he said. “Our crowds have been great this year and I hope they stay active as we get into sub-state. Our guys really feed off of that.”
The Trojans will have a week off before they wrap up their regular season at Republic County next Tuesday, but can rest secure knowing that they have locked up the #1 seed at their sub-state.
“We don’t want to look to far ahead but we know what the ultimate goal is and that’s to be one of the eight teams with a chance at state but there are steps along the way that have to be taken,” Flax said.