By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Still in search of their first win, the Southeast of Saline Lady Trojans will face the Sacred Heart Lady Knights on Saturday at 3:00.
With their game against Beloit on Friday being cancelled, SES has had some extra time to prepare for the Knights following their loss to Smoky Valley.
For head coach Shauna Smith, the extra break and time to work with her younger girls has been a welcome one.
“Having these three days off has been helpful for us because we are rebuilding this year,” she said. “We had time in practice to break down things we want to focus on and I think our kids have responded really well so far.”
Even in a year dominated by distractions, the intense rivalry between the Trojans and Knights will take center stage on Saturday when the teams meet once again.
“Unless you go to SES or Sacred Heart you don’t really understand how big of a rivalry this is,” Knights head coach Keenan Thompson said. “From seventh grade on the coaches hype you up for the games and it takes on a life of its own when you get to high school. This is a pretty special rivalry.”
This game will also be a test for SES, who will be much smaller on the floor than Sacred Heart this weekend.
“We’re going to have to rebound better than we have in these first two games,” Smith said. “Sacred Heart has some really good post players so we’re going to have to focus on keeping them off the boards and keeping them in front of us.”
Another key to keep an eye on will be the play of Karsyn Schlesener, who got off to a slow start in the teams first game of the season, but seems to be settling in.
“I think things are going to start opening up for Karsyn,” she said. “She’s going to get going from the outside and she’s a good enough player that I know it’ll come to her.”
Schleseners play will also be a big focus for Coach Thompson and the Knights, who made it pretty clear how large he feels her impact could be.
“We win if we can contain Karsyn Schlesener, they win if we can’t, it’s pretty simple,” he said.
Tipoff is scheduled for 3pm at Sacred Heart High School and both this game and the boys game afterwards can be heard on KINA (910 AM, 107.5 FM).
Feature photo courtesy of Lori Blake