By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
If anyone plans to take down the top-ranked Southeast of Saline boys’ basketball team, it will have to wait until next year.
The Trojans steamrolled their way through the December portion of their schedule, eliminating three ranked teams including two preseason #1’s en route to a 6-0 record to carry into the new year.
That train didn’t stop in Salina on Monday night as Southeast cruised past their biggest rival in Sacred Heart with a convincing 65-41 victory over the then 4-1 Knights, despite a great 12-point performance from Michael Matteucci.
“We settled in and were pretty good overall even though we weren’t great defensively,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “Credit Michael Matteucci, he’s a great player and I told him after the game he’s the most in-shape kid that we’ve faced this year. We tried to wear him out and just couldn’t.”
One area of defensive emphasis for the Trojans in this matchup was in their protection of the rim, where Eli Sawyers and Nakari Morrical-Palmer threw a block party, taking away points in bunches in the paint.
“We were doing a good job of contesting shots,” Flax said. “We thrive in pace and to a degree in chaos. We knew Sacred Heart was going to make some things up on us defensively but once we got into our rhythm we’re really tough to keep up with.”
The Trojans were led in scoring by a 22-point masterclass by Eli Sawyers, who dominated inside, collecting 20 of his points without the aid of a single three or free throw.
Southeast of Saline will resume their season on Friday, January 6th when they return to Gypsum to square off with another league foe in Minneapolis.