By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
On Monday night, Southeast of Saline and Sacred Heart played to a split on the hardwood with all four teams closing out the 2023 calendar portion of their seasons.
The Lady Trojans continued their dominance over Sacred Heart, winning their seventh straight over the Lady Knights, while the Knights dominated to win their first over the Trojans in two years.
Girls Game: SE of Saline 35, Sacred Heart 25
After playing the first quarter within one possession, the next three frames would swing this game back and forth, with the Lady Trojans taking a commanding 12-point lead into the half.
Sacred Heart tightened the screws defensively, holding Southeast without a single bucket from the floor in the third quarter and slowly but steadily restoring the deficit to just three points.
From there however, the Lady Trojans responded in kind, holding the Lady Knights to just two made field goals in the fourth and putting the game to bed in another double-digit victory.
“It’s a lot easier going into break 4-2 than 3-3 and it’s always nice to end on a win,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. I thought we did a really good job tonight. I thought we did a great job defensively for all 32 minutes.”
Sacred Heart spread their scoring across just three players, with Avery Eshelman collecting ten, Katie Weiss adding nine, and Skylar Douglas chipping in six.
On the other side of the matchup, seven different Lady Trojans scored, as Adyson Rohr led the way with a new career-high nine points.
With this result, Southeast heads into the winter break at 4-2 while Sacred Heart heads to the holidays at 3-3.
Boys Game: SE of Saline 60, Sacred Heart 36
On the boys’ side, this matchup looked to be another instant classic between two heated rivals until an 8-0 run to close the half put the Knights firmly in the driver's seat.
The Trojans committed 15 turnovers, including seven in the second quarter alone, and Sacred Heart capitalized, pulling away and never looking back in a road rout.
“This one’s on me,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “When you get beat by 30 you’re either significantly worse or underprepared. You won’t convince me that we’re 30 points worse than them and so I’ve gotta be better, this one doesn’t sit well.”
It was another masterclass for Michael Matteucci, who dropped 17 points in the win, aided by 12 from Will Tuttle and 8 from both Luca Adami and Jason Marrs.
While the Trojans did have six players in scoring, none cracked double digits, with Omar Calzada (9), Owen Bailey (9), and Gannon Jacobson (8), leading the way.
The Knights remain perfect at 6-0 heading into the winter break while the Trojans fall to 2-4.