By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline and Sacred Heart girl’s basketball teams will each look to close out the December portion of their season on a high note when the two meet in Salina for a rare Monday matchup.
For the 5th-ranked Lady Trojans, this game represents an opportunity to continue climbing the 3A ladder and to head into the new year undefeated while for the 1-4 Lady Knights, it’s a chance to get back on the right side of a big rivalry and take some much-needed momentum into the break.
Southeast of Saline will come into this contest at 5-0, fresh off their first ranked victory of the season after dispatching #4 Hillsboro on the road last Thursday.
“Getting a win like that was good,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “That’s the kind of game that we needed to get out and win and we played controlled for the whole game. We took the things we had worked on in practice and transitioned them to the game well.”
On the other side of the matchup, Sacred Heart is much better on the floor than their record would indicate, but has faced an early-season gauntlet to start their campaign.
“We’re still on our journey and we’re still getting more mentally tough every game,” Lady Knights head coach Carl Hines said. “We’ve played a meat grinder of a schedule with #1 Berean Academy, Rossville, and Clifton-Clyde. I think we’ve played well at times, we just haven’t put together a full game but our schedule has prepared us well.”
To take the next step and snap a four-game losing streak, Sacred Heart will have to do what no NCAA opponent has been able to in the last 27 tries; defeat the Lady Trojans in a league matchup.
“Our players always want to go out and perform in a rivalry game and they know our expectations,” Hines said. “Southeast is very well coached and this is going to be a dogfight but our expectation is that we give ourselves a chance to win it in the end.”
Unlike last year, Southeast is also anticipating a close matchup, affording the Lady Knights a great deal of respect in the buildup to this one.
“We know this isn’t going to be an easy game and they’re going to be ready for us,” Smith said. “They’re a much-improved team and they’re a year older with a lot of experience. We know we’re going to have to play well tonight to win and we’re going to have to do things the right way.”
As they have throughout their first several games, SES will have to contend with the size of Sacred Heart, and be willing to scrap to win the game on the glass, while also sharing the ball offensively.
“They have a big post player inside and size is always going to hurt us a little bit,” Smith said. “They push the ball up the court well which is something that we like to do also so we have to play controlled and make that extra pass and find that open shooter. We have to work together as a team and keep our turnovers down.”
Meanwhile, the Lady Knights will have to contend with the speed and quickness of an SES team that has hounded opponents defensively and gotten out into transition well this season.
“They space the court really well,” Hines said. “They have a ton of girls who can shoot it from three and they’re tough as nails in their quarter-court defense. We’ve got to be really disciplined and mentally tough for 32 minutes. We need to rebound as a team and we definitely need to limit their transition looks. This should be fun.”
Tip-off between the Lady Trojans and Knights is set for 6 pm on the campus of Sacred Heart High School in Salina, with the boys’ game to follow at 7:30.
For continuing coverage of both teams all season long, stay tuned to the Salina Post.