By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
With the exception of a few loyalists wearing purple and white on Thursday night, the entire state of Kansas counted Southeast of Saline out in their semifinal matchup with Hesston.
The three-time defending 3A state champs were the top seed in the bracket, came in with a pristine 17-3 record, and had already dominated Southeast once in a 49-32 season opener victory.
Some already had the Swathers penciled in for a final with Santa Fe Trail on Saturday.
The Trojans had other plans.
“We haven’t been in this position for a few years where nobody expects us to win,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “Nobody expected us to compete with the upper-echelon teams in the state but our guys didn’t listen to any of that, they believe they belong and that can be dangerous.”
This game was a dogfight right from the start, and Hesston delivered the first punch, taking a 12-3 lead off the starting line, but the Trojans battled back to cut the lead to two at the end of the first quarter.
Amidst a second-quarter run, with 3:31 remaining in the half Owen Bailey splashed a three from the left wing to give the Trojans their first lead since the opening minutes and Southeast slammed the gas to take a nine-point lead into the break.
“We knew at halftime that they weren’t going away,” Flax said. “It’s embedded in their program that those guys are winners but I thought we did a good job of staying the course and battling on every possession in the second half.”
Southeast tightened the screws defensively in the third quarter, holding Hesston to just three made field goals and extending their lead to ten, a lead they would hold on to win by at the final buzzer.
“We told the guys that every possession was going to be a battle and you have to win more of those than Hesston does,” Flax said. “We started off a little slow and a little soft but once we settled in man we competed and it was so fun to see those guys battle for four quarters.”
Six different Trojans recorded a bucket in the win, led by Gannon Jacobson (16), Owen Bailey (12), Daniel Kejr (9) and Omar Calzada (9).
On the other side Adrian Hernandez (14) and Jackson Fry (10) were the leading scorers for the Swathers, but it wasn’t enough as Hesston’s season draws to a close at 18-4.
The Trojans meanwhile, move to 13-9, and earn a date with Santa Fe Trail in the sub-state championship game on their own home floor this Saturday.