By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline boys basketball team hung tough with the defending 2A champs, but ultimately fell to Hesston in their season opener 49-32.
Behind strong first-quarter performances by Owen Bailey and Brenton Leeds, the Trojans held a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but would trail by three at the half after scoring just six points in the second.
The Swathers pulled away in the third, outscoring the Trojans 17-6 and maintaining that advantage to the finish line for a 17-point victory.
After graduating nine seniors, including their whole starting five over the offseason, Southeast is still searching for consistency, something that should come as a slew of newcomers get to grips with the speed of the varsity floor.
“Until these guys are in it they can’t truly understand and Hesston has a brand of basketball that makes you work for so much,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “We took really quick shots and I didn’t love our shot selection. I hope we can learn from this and continue to get better.”
Hesston was led in scoring by Adrian Hernandez and Jackson Fry, who contributed 14 and 11 respectively.
Meanwhile, the Trojans got 11 from Bailey and 9 from Leeds, but received just 12 points from the rest of the team combined.
While the lack of raw offense was a real issue for SES, the Trojans will also have to get stronger on the glass this season to avoid a repeat of Friday night.
“This game was ugly on both ends but we were a little soft to close out the half,” Flax said. “We gave up a ton of second chance points and we were in spots to grab those rebounds, Hesston just wanted to go get it more than we did.”
Southeast will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Smoky Valley to battle the Vikings.