By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Following another split with Abilene on Tuesday, the Southeast of Saline basketball teams will finally get to spend some time at home, returning to Gypsum tonight to play host to the Hillsboro Trojans
This will be the first of two sets of home games for SES, who will cap off the 2023 calendar year with Sacred Heart next Monday.
Girls Game: SE of Saline (3-1) vs. Hillsboro (1-3)
The Lady Trojans of SES have cemented their status with three straight wins and will look to continue surging tonight against a rebuilding Hillsboro program.
While Southeast won last year’s contest convincingly (56-37), Hillsboro still owns the recent series history, winning four of the last five meetings.
While Hillsboro doesn’t look as dominant as they have in years past, this is still a veteran-heavy team, and the purple and white will need to stay on their toes.
“Hillsboro has a lot of really experienced basketball players who are very knowledgeable,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “If our rotations are off they’ll find the open person and all five of them can score at any time.”
Meanwhile, for Southeast to roll into Monday’s finale with a full head of steam the Lady Trojans will need to continue attacking the basket and deepening their rotation.
“We still need to see some more consistent offense from our kids off the bench,” Smith said. “We’ve gotten some great looks but we also need to finish better around the rim.”
Tip-off between the rival Lady Trojans’ is scheduled for 6:00.
Boys Game: SE of Saline (1-3) vs. Hillsboro (1-3)
On the boy’s side, the Trojans will have an excellent shot to break their skid, having played two state-ranked opponents in their first four contests.
In a carbon copy of the recent girl’s results, SES took home last year’s win in this series 56-37, but the Hillsboro boys have dominated the recent history winning four out of five.
The Trojans in maroon find themselves under new leadership this year, and are still adjusting to a somewhat new philosophy, which could make tonight’s matchup all the more interesting.
“Hillsboro played the same way for so long and any time you have a coach like that retire you never really know who they’re going to be until you see them,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “They feel like a good mix of both philosophies, they defend hard but pressure less, they take away opportunities for you to get to the basket, and offensively they never stop moving.”
To counter that constant action on offense, the Southeast defense will need to communicate well, be sound on switches, and good on help defense without overpursuing.
The boy’s game will begin 20 minutes after the conclusion of the girl's game tonight.
Broadcast Information
- Location: SE of Saline High School
- Radio: KINA (910 AM/107.5 FM)
- Live Stream Video: Link Below
- Pregame: 5:30 PM