By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The sixth-ranked Southeast of Saline boys basketball team is headed to the sub-state final after a 57-42 victory over Smoky Valley to extend their win streak to 12 games.
The Vikings season will end with an overall record of 11-11 while the Trojans advance to take on Council Grove on Saturday for a ticket to the state tournament next week.
“I’m really proud of my guys,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “From the beginning, our goal has been to get to sub-state Saturday and to give ourselves a chance. If you win on Saturday anything can go and our guys fought hard to get there.”
The Trojans started this game much better than they did on Monday, taking a 31-19 lead into halftime.
Smoky Valley ramped up the intensity out of the locker room but Southeast matched them step for step and kept the Vikings at arm's length until the final buzzer.
“It was a little slower than I had hoped for but we hung in there and took some chances,” Flax said. “They enjoy playing in a good environment and I thought we did a good job of matching their physicality.”
The Trojans were led tonight by Luke Gebhardt who dropped a new career-high 25 points in the win, all in the final three quarters.
“I didn’t think they were going to let Eli get 33 again,” he said. “They had a lot of eyes on him and Luke did a great job of attacking the rim, he was phenomenal tonight.”
Luke was joined in double figures by the usual suspects in Eli Sawyers and Nakari Morrical-Palmer who added 25 points from the frontcourt.
Southeast will now face a new opponent in the 14-8 Council Grove Braves who are fresh off a 40-32 win over the Beloit Trojans.
Tip-off for the sub-state title match is set for 5:30 pm at Minneapolis High School on Saturday.