By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline girl’s basketball team fell in just their second loss of the season at the hands of the Clay Center Tigers 38-32.
With this loss, SES drops to 6-2 on the season while Clay Center improves to 5-3.
As predicted, both defenses came to play, combining to hold each other to a total of five made field goals in the first quarter and just seven in the second, with the Trojans holding a 14-13 lead at halftime.
“We knew that they were going to make us do things right to get open on every possession,” Trojan head coach Shauna Smith said. “We figured this game would be in the 30s and we really thought we needed to be in the 40s tonight.”
SES added 12 points in the third quarter, all but three of which came from Karsyn Schlesener, and took their biggest lead of the night in the fourth up by eight.
Clay Center clawed their way back at the free-throw line and reclaimed the lead as SES struggled to put points on the board down the stretch.
“Karsyn was going to the basket and we had some kids getting open on back cuts but we only did that for a short spurt,” Smith said. “Their defense is really good but we needed to find the next open person more often.”
The Tigers made five free throws in the fourth quarter while Southeast went 0-4 from the stripe, ultimately falling by six.
With Clay Center putting extra pressure on Schlesener down the stretch, the rest of the team combined for just two made shots in the entire second half.
“At some point, we have some kids that need to step up to the next level,” Smith said. “We matched their intensity at times but we have to do that for a full 32 minutes.”
SES will get a long week of rest before heading to the Sterling Tournament next week in a field that includes four state-ranked teams.
The Lady Trojans will enter as the two-seed and will open bracket play against Kingman on Tuesday at 6 pm.