By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline girls basketball team will hit the road again as the Lady Trojans travel Abilene to take on the Cowgirls.
SES enters this game at 2-1 following a big win over Beloit last Friday, but is still focused on taking the next step with two more big games this week.
“As I watched the film for the second time there are some little things we need to tweak as a team,” Trojan head coach Shauna Smith said. “We need to be a little more aggressive offensively, I think we’re still playing a little too safe.”
Abilene will come into this contest at 1-2 following a 41-31 victory over Augusta last Friday.
“We had been focusing on rebounding and I thought we controlled the boards well against Augusta,” Abilene head coach Mike Liby said. “Our shooting started to hit a little bit and our overall energy has been coming along.”
Both of these teams have focused on improving their work on the glass and overall scoring capability throughout these first few games, and fans can expect a gritty, low-scoring battle when the two meet on Tuesday night.
While Abilene boasts the better size on the interior, the speed and quickness of a smaller SES lineup has caused problems for opponents so far this year.
“They’re quick and they have five good ball handlers who aren’t afraid of anybody,” Liby said. “They push the ball really hard which has me the most concerned and from start to finish they’re relentless.”
For the Trojans, the game will once again come down to their ability to box out and secure rebounds to limit Abilene’s second-chance scoring opportunities.
“They have some size and they’re much improved from last year,” Smith said. “Facing bigger players is always a challenge for us. We have to play together a little bit more and we have to find ways to put the ball in the bucket.”
On the Abilene side, slowing down the speed of the game and controlling the glass will be the biggest keys to evening things out at 2-2 on the season.
“We have to control the ball, play solid defense and see if we can play at our pace instead of trying to run with them,” Liby said. “If we can do that I think we can stay competitive.”
Tip-off between the Lady Trojans and Cowgirls is set for 6 pm at Abilene High School with the boys game to follow at 7 pm.
As always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) or streamed live on the Salina Post.