By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
After sweeping the Smoky Valley Vikings on Tuesday, the Southeast of Saline basketball teams returned to Gypsum for their first home, and league games of the 2023-24 season, hosting Beloit on Friday.
The two teams split the opener to their series against the rival Trojans, with the girl's team collecting a big win, and the boy's team falling in a hard-fought battle.
Girls Game: SE of Saline 46, Beloit 36
The Lady Trojans of SES made it two wins in a row on Friday to improve to 2-1 while Beloit falls to 1-2.
More importantly, Southeast gains an early foothold in NCAA play, which should help them in their quest for a fourth-straight league title.
This was a closely contested contest throughout most of the night, with Beloit taking a three-point lead early in the third quarter.
From there however, it was all Southeast, as the Lady Trojans finished the quarter on a 13-4 run and never looked back, cruising to a 46-36 victory.
“We picked up our pressure defensively and kept them uncomfortable,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “That really seemed to get things going for us. They outmatched us in size but we know that to have success this year we have to be gritty and I thought we did that tonight.”
It was another solid performance from the Southeast offense, this time with more contributions from everyone involved.
SES was led by a trio of double-digit scorers, with 12 points from both Brielle Ptacek and Lexi Jacobson, 10 points from Maddie Harris, and 8 points from Abigail Pearson.
“Everybody needs to contribute,” Smith said. “That’s something we talk about all the time and we’re not a one-man team here at Southeast, that’s part of what makes us so dangerous.”
The Lady Trojans will return to the road next Tuesday as they make the trip to Abilene for a battle with the 0-3 Cowgirls.
Boys Game: SE of Saline 40, Beloit 44
Despite being the much smaller team on the floor, Southeast scrapped and clawed for 32 minutes but couldn’t overcome Beloit falling to 1-2 while the orange Trojans remain undefeated at 3-0.
“This was a fun game,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “I thought for as undersized as we are and as much as they took advantage of that we did a fantastic job of battling down in the paint. At the end of the day you need a couple to bounce your way and we didn’t but I’m proud of our guys, especially on the defensive end.”
This game was a back-and-forth affair, with Southeast leading by three after one, Beloit leading by three at the half, and the two sides tied at 30 apiece going into the fourth and final frame.
Connor Casselman took over for the purple Trojans down the stretch, with seven big fourth-quarter points, but four points from the rest of the team wouldn’t be enough as SES came up just short.
Despite taking a loss to start league play, this game proved to the Gypsum faithful, and to the rest of Class 3A, just how physical and tenacious Southeast can be, as the Trojans turned Beloit over 15 times and battled on the boards.
“I was happy with our effort and I thought we really got after it,” Flax said. “This game wasn’t determined at the free-throw line late. We have some things we have to improve but we’ll work on that going forward.”
When all was said and done, Beloit was led by Bryce Beisner (17), and Eli Johnson (10), while Southeast got most of their scoring from Caselman (11), Daniel Kejr (11), and Gannon Jacobson (9).
The Trojans will be back in action next Tuesday when they travel to Abilene for a duel with another undefeated foe in the 3-0 Cowboys.
In case you missed it you can watch the full stream of both games below.