By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline boy’s basketball team concluded their campaign with a fourth-place finish at this year’s state tournament, falling to Beloit in the third-place game by a final score of 51-37.
The Trojans kept things close and led by three at the intermission, but ran out of gas offensively down the stretch, scoring just ten more points in the second half.
Nevertheless, this result is an impressive one for a Southeast squad that entered sub-state as the 4-seed at 11-9, and recovered well after a slow 2-4 start.
“I thought we battled in the first half with the exception of giving up some points off O-Boards,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “I thought we dominated the first two quarters but it was a tale of two halves. We fouled a lot in the second half but I thought our guys battled and competed until the end and I’m real proud of them for that.”
This marks the third-straight season that Southeast has played on the final day of the 3A state tournament, and this year’s run was arguably the most magical, as the Trojans struck down 2nd-ranked Cheney and 4th-ranked Hesston on their way, falling only to #1 Beloit and #3 Goodland all postseason long.
“There’s no doubt that these guys put in the work this season,” Flax said. “We had some hiccups early in the year but I thought we were a few possessions away from changing some outcomes and we got hot at the right time. It says a lot about our program that we were disappointed to not be playing for a state championship today and that shows what our program is all about. These guys are learning how to be winners and good kids who do things the right way.”
For Southeast, the season comes to a close at 15-11 overall while Beloits ends at 24-2.
Both teams were forged in the crucible of what could be argued was the best league in Class 2-3A this year, as the two were joined by Ellsworth and Sacred Heart at state, with three of those four teams finishing in the top four.
SES will say goodbye to another big class of five seniors this offseason as Danny Kejr, Connor Caselman, Brenton Leeds, Omar Calzada, and Kirby Davis all approach graduation, but each and every one of these seniors has left an impact on a program that is in every bit as good of shape as the one they inherited.