By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The top-ranked Southeast of Saline boys basketball team kept the good times rolling in the 2022 portion of their season, handing Beloit a 68-46 loss to open league play.
With this win, SES advances to 3-0 while Beloit will continue their search for a first victory at 0-3.
It was a slow start for Southeast, who led just 12-11 after a quarter, and 24-23 at the half.
“I thought we were taking a lot of quick threes and not boarding in the first half so it was a lot of one shot and out possessions for us,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “When you have to play defense for as long as we did in that half that’s not in our favor.”
Out of the intermission, the purple and white came to life, outscoring their league rivals 44-23 to close out a comfortable win on the road, turning Beloit over ten times in the second half alone
“We were a little soft early and as the game went on we took fewer chances but we forced more turnovers,” Flax said. “We kept the ball in front of us and we got on the glass better and when we clean that up we can get on the run quick.”
When all was said and done, SES had four different players in double digits, led by an 18-point night for Eli Sawyers.
Nakari Morrical-Palmer tacked on 14 points while 12 more came from Luke Gebhardt and Kayson Lilley.
On the Beloit side of the matchup, it was a good evening for Wyatt Broeckelman and Bryce Beisner, who tallied 15 and 13 respectively, but the rest of the team could only muster 16 points as the game slipped away in the second half.
With the two teams sharing both a midseason tournament and a sub-state, SES and Beloit could potentially play three more games before the end of the year, but the two are only guaranteed one more meeting which will take place in Gypsum in February.
“Having the rematch of this series on your home court makes a difference and Beloit is the best 0-3 team that we’re going to see. I’m glad we settled in in the second half but credit to Beloit, they had a good gameplan, they played us tough and that’s not a bad ball club.”
#1 Southeast of Saline will return home on Tuesday to face another ranked opponent in #4 Abilene from Class 4A.