By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline boys basketball team wrapped up their regular season in style with a 50-36 win over the Republic County Buffaloes, and will head into the sub-state tournament with an overall record of 17-3.
The Trojans completed their first undefeated league season in over a decade, securing the NCAA title with a perfect 10-0 record, and extending their win streak to ten heading into sub-state.
Republic County was able to muddy the waters in an ugly first quarter and led after one 6-4 but Southeast quickly reclaimed the lead and never relinquished it, finally pulling away in the fourth quarter.
“I’m the most stressed guy in the gym right now,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “This place is interesting and we couldn’t score early. There are going to be off nights offensively but we need to have consistent defensive nights and that needed to be better tonight.”
The Trojans were led by another stellar 18-point night from Eli Sawyers, who like the rest of the team started slow but poured on eight points in the second and third quarters, dominating in the paint.
“I don’t want Eli to settle and there wasn’t a kid in the gym who could guard him tonight,” Flax said. “We wanted to get him going by getting him to the rim and to the line. He did a good job tonight.”
Defensively, the Trojans did a solid job on Blake Aurand, holding the Buffalo bruiser to 13 points in the win.
With the final KBCA rankings posted, Southeast will officially be the #6 team in Class 3A at sub-state and beyond, and will likely tip-off their postseason on Monday hosting 5-15 Minneapolis.
The Trojans handled the Lions twice this year already by scores of 52-25 and 62-22.
For continuing coverage of both SES basketball teams at sub-state, stay tuned to the Salina Post.