By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline boys’ basketball team opened their Sterling Tournament run with a dominant 62-33 victory over the Hutch Trinity Celtics.
The Trojans will advance to the winner's semi-finals to face 4-3 Hugoton while Hutch Trinity, still in search of their first win on the year, will take on Smoky Valley in the consolation bracket.
While SES dominated in all facets of the game tonight, they excelled most in the paint, with Eli Sawyers and Nakari Morrical-Palmer combining for 36 of Southeast’s 62 points.
“We knew they were going to pack the lane so we wanted to get some quick post moves,” Trojan head coach Bryson Flax said. “We were able to get touches deep on the block and did a nice job of finishing around the rim.”
Sawyers had an exceptionally efficient night finishing 10/13 from the field and adding three more from the line.
Hutch Trinity held a two-point lead going into the second quarter, but from there, SES took over, outscoring the Celtics 54-23 to close out the contest.
“I thought we did a good job of making them uncomfortable and defending without fouling,” Flax said. “They got some good looks but it was mostly from guys who aren’t comfortable taking them.”
SES will now turn their attention to a 5:30 pm Thursday tip with the Hugoton Eagles, a familiar foe for the Trojans at Sterling.
“This was our first game in over a week so there was a lot of rust and we didn’t come out with much energy,” he said. “We will have to be much better about that tomorrow night against a good Hugoton ball club.”
Both SES basketball teams face Hugoton in the winner's semis on Thursday. The girl’s game, which tips off at 4:30 pm can be heard on KINA while the boy’s game will be streamed on the Salina Post.
For more on both teams throughout the Sterling Invitational stay tuned to the Salina Post.