By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
After making an improbable run through their sub-state tournament last week, the Southeast of Saline boys’ basketball team is headed to their third 3A state tournament in as many years at the Sports Arena in Hutch this week.
The Trojans will enter the bracket as the 7-seed with a 14-9 overall record and will take on Cheney (21-2) in the opening round this evening.
Despite being counted out in a bracket that housed the three-time defending state champs in Hesston last week, Southeast never doubted themselves for a minute, dispatching Council Grove, Hesston, and Santa Fe Trail to punch their ticket to state.
“Nobody expected us to make a run,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “Our mindset was ‘why not do everything in our power to do just that’ and I thought we were pretty darn good throughout the week, especially in the things that don’t show up in the stat sheet.”
If there was a moment where it sunk in for the Trojans that they could compete with anyone it wasn’t during that tournament, as Southeast has played a murderer's row of a schedule and gone toe to toe with a slew of ranked foes all year.
“We didn’t just decide that we belonged last week,” Flax said. “That’s been going on for a while. We’ve talked all season about how good we could be if we did some of the little things better and we were just waiting for all the little things to click the way they did for almost three complete games.”
Of the six teams to beat Southeast of Saline this year, five will also be playing for a state tournament this year, including two other schools from the NCAA.
The other was Hesston.
“To have half of our league competing at state is incredible,” he said. “In a lot of years we all get bunched up in the same sub-state because of geography but this year we got spread out and you can see how deep our league is.”
Up first at the Hutch Sports Arena is a date with one of the hottest teams in the state in 2nd-ranked and 2-seeded Cheney.
The Cardinals began the year 1-2, falling in back-to-back games at the hands of 4A Wellington and Pratt before going on a tear, winning their next 20 straight games including victories over Chaparral, Wichita Trinity, and Wichita Collegiate at sub-state last week.
“Cheney is really good,” Flax said. “Defensively they get out and really guard you, they make it difficult to catch. On the offensive end, they like layups and threes and they don’t seem to have a problem getting either of them. They might be the best offensive rebounding team that we’ve seen on film and they really work to earn extra opportunities.”
The Cardinals have dominated with defense down the stretch, holding their last six opponents to just over 36 points a night on average.
“They really make you work for everything on the offensive end and they don’t give up many offensive rebounds,” he said. “We need to settle in, make sure we move the basketball around and find good opportunities.”
It may take the best night of basketball Southeast has played all season, but the Trojans have been counted out before, and will be ready to give another top-ranked opponent all they can handle when the ball goes in the air at 6:00 tonight.
As always state coverage of SES hoops can be heard locally on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and on 910KINA.com.