By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
After falling in a sweep at the hands of Hesston to open their seasons on Friday, the Southeast of Saline basketball teams will stay on the road for a Tuesday doubleheader with the Smoky Valley Vikings.
This will be the second of three road games before the winter break, all three of which will come in the first two weeks.
Girls Game: SE of Saline (0-1) vs. Smoky Valley (1-0)
Following a slow start that saw them held to under 40 points on Friday, the Lady Trojans will look to unpack the fireworks this evening, but will have their work cut out for them against a stout Smoky Valley unit.
The Lady Vikings handled their business on Friday in a 45-16 win over a struggling Abilene program, and will be eager to avenge a 48-46 loss at the hands of Southeast last season.
With several new pieces slotting into the varsity rotation, there may be a bit of a learning curve for the Lady Trojans this season, but it’s a challenge the team is eager to overcome as the December schedule rolls on.
“We never really got into a good flow offensively on Friday and we’re still figuring out how we’re going to work this new offense in and get people in the right spots,” SES head coach Shauna Smith said. “We had 19 turnovers which can’t happen and we need to get our posts more involved.”
In order to slow the Smoky Valley advance, SES will need to be more fearless in attacking the basket, despite once again being the undersized squad on the floor.
“We need to be willing to take it to the hole and not settle for the three-point shot,” Smith said. “We have to be a little more gritty on the court and we really need to get after it.”
Tip-off for the girl’s game is set for 6:00 PM on the campus of Smoky Valley High School.
Boys Game: #9 SE of Saline (0-1) vs. Smoky Valley (0-1)
In the boy’s game, two teams eager to gain a foothold will collide after the Trojans dropped their game with Hesston 49-32, and the Vikings fell to Abilene 79-42.
Southeast has dominated the series as of late, winning the last seven straight across the last four seasons.
In order to get back to .500, Southeast will need a return to the high-energy brand of basketball they’ve become known for in the last several years.
Offensively we were good early when we were fresh but as we got more fatigued we got stagnant and when you’re just standing around it makes things easy for the defense,” SES head coach Bryson Flax said. “We need to rebound better, we gave up 15 offensive boards and we weren’t getting on the floor after 50/50 balls. We just need to be better on hustle plays.”
Thanks to one key hired gun, this year’s Vikings will pack a little more firepower than in years past, and should provide Southeast with another tall task defensively.
“They have a two-headed monster with the Blanchatt kid and the transfer from Lyons,” Flax said. “Those two accounted for most of their scoring in game one. They’re long, they’re athletic and they can create their own shots so we’ll have our hands full with those two.”
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