By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The magical run for the Southeast of Saline boys basketball team came to an end on Friday night, as the Trojans fell to 3rd-ranked Goodland 55-38 in the 3A semifinals.
With this result, the Cowboys move to 22-3 on the year and will advance to play Wellsville in the 3A state championship game while the Trojans drop to 15-10 and will face a familiar foe in Beloit for third place on Saturday.
The Trojans held a two-point lead after a quarter, but were outscored 35-16 in the middle frames as Goodland pulled away and finished strong.
While Southeast had certainly hoped for more, the fact that the Trojans made the final four in Class 3A in a season that saw them enter sub-state unraked as a four-seed is nothing short of remarkable.
“I’m proud of our guys for battling and getting to this point,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. We were going to have to play an almost perfect game to keep up with them. We held a really good team in the 50s. I was proud of that, we just couldn’t knock down shots.”
Owen Bailey was the lone Trojan in double digits on Friday, scoring 15 of Southeast’s 38 points.
On the other side, two players shouldered much the load for Goodland as Brady Brumbaugh went off for 22, and future DI football player Linkon Cure finished his night with 12.
To return to Gysum with hardware for a third consecutive season, Southeast will have to take down a rival that’s given them some trouble this year, as the Beloit Trojans find themselves in the same position ahead of championship Saturday.
“It makes preparation on a short back-to-back easier but we don’t match up well with them,” Flax said. “At this point you’re going to come out and compete with whoever lines up across from you. Beloit is what they are, they’re really good and we’ll have to be good on the glass again.”
The third-place game is set for noon this Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, and as always the game can be heard on KINA.