By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline boys’ basketball team battled until the end but came up just short in this year’s Sterling Tournament final, falling to the Hugoton Eagles 55-47.
This is the first loss on the Trojan's 2022-23 resume, dropping them to 10-1 while the Eagles, still ranked as the #8 team in Class 4A, move to 10-2.
Early on, this game saw exceptionally little offense, with a score of 3-0 on the board at the midway mark of the first quarter.
From there, the teams traded runs down the stretch, with Hugoton burying big shots to close out the second and third quarters and keep the Trojans at arm's length.
SES battled and cut the deficit down to as little as five in the final two minutes, but the Eagles were able to work the clock, and put the game away at the free-throw line.
By the final buzzer, the Trojans had outscored the Eagles 34-18 in the paint, and 11-7 off turnovers, but Hugoton’s eight made threes compared to just one for Southeast proved to be the difference.
Eli Sawyers put up a valiant effort in this contest, leading all scorers with 29 points, followed by Nakari Morrical-Palmer with 11, but the rest of the team combined to score just seven points throughout the contest.
On Hugoton’s end, the Eagles were led in scoring by Carson Bennett (17) and Ryle Riddlesperger (15), with three other players chipping in six or more.
The Trojans will now turn their attention to a road trip to Republic County, where they will continue their pursuit of locking up yet another league title, and getting back in the win column on Tuesday.