By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
With a month to go in the regular season, the Southeast of Saline boys basketball team is gaining steam after sweeping their rivals from Sacred Heart for the first time since 2007.
SES enters the back-stretch of February at 11-3 and a perfect 6-0 in league play with a strong resume of quality wins.
While the Trojans saw a good class of seniors graduate last season, the team hasn’t missed a beat, with a trio of veterans filling those shoes immediately.
“I think the thing that’s impressed me the most is the way these guys have stepped up into leadership roles,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “Finding the guys that we could count on was a question mark for us not only in games but also in practice, but we’ve had guys really step into those roles.”
Southeast has dominated their opponents thanks to a trio of juniors in Eli Sawyers, Nakari Morrical-Palmer, and Luke Gebhardt, who have combined to average for 41 points and 20 rebounds per game.
While those three were known quantities coming into the season, the Trojans have also gotten a huge boost from another pair of juniors in Kayson Lilley and Caden Isaacson, as well as sophomore sharpshooter Danny Kejr.
“We were a little unsure initially what we were going to get with Lilley and Isaacson but they’ve really stepped up defensively,” Flax said. “Kayson can shoot the ball well and Caden has gotten more comfortable guarding bigger players. Danny had a great summer but our competition is on a different level and he’s really handled his own.”
With a strong inside-out game, the Trojans have averaged 60 points per game while a stifling defense has allowed under 50 on average.
If SES can win their next two league contests with Beloit and Minneapolis, they can secure their first NCAA title since head coach Bryson Flax’s senior season in 2007.
While the prospect of a league title would be a feather in the Trojan’s cap, Southeast’s eyes remain on a much bigger prize.
“If things continue to trend in the direction they’re going and we can stay healthy I really like this group and our goal remains to give ourselves an opportunity to play in a sub-state championship game,” he said. “Anything can happen in Hutch, you just have to give yourself an opportunity to get there.”
To get to that sub-state final, SES will need more complete efforts and fewer slow starts, something that has plagued the Trojans in a few critical games this year.
“I’d like to see a little more consistency,” Flax said. “We’ve been pretty good about going on runs but we still need to put it together for complete games. We’ve got a good record against some good teams but I don’t think we’ve put it together for a full 32 minutes yet.”
The Trojans will be back in action on Friday night to host the Chapman Fighting Irish.
For continuing coverage of both SES basketball teams in 2022 stay tuned to the Salina Post.