Nakari Morrical-Palmer leads Southeast of Saline boys to third place, girls finish second at Sterling invitational
STERLING – The Sterling Invitational boys top overall seed Southeast of Saline Trojans came into the tournament thinking championship, but they came away with a dominant third place finish over Kingman Eagles 76-54 Friday at Sterling College to propel their season record to 7-3.
It was a bit of a slow start for the Trojans, who were coming off a disappointing loss in the semifinals. The 3-7 Eagles came to play early and led 18-17 after the first quarter, but the Trojans answered in a big way in the second quarter by outscoring Kingman 24-6.
“Really, it was just do everything that we were doing, but just a little better and faster,” Southeast of Saline head coach Bryson Flax said. “We seemed like we were a little slow early and once we settled in, obviously we took off. It’s what we got to do more consistently.”
The Trojans, who were the likely favorite to win the tournament, got bounced out in the semifinals to the eventual champion Hugoton. However, they remain positive on the outcome of the tournament and believe two wins in three days is a win in itself.
“You always want to come into these things with the goal to get two (wins),” Flax said. “We really had our eyes set on three, and it didn’t work out for us, but I was happy that we pulled together and came out with some energy today.”
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A big portion of the Trojan’s energy came from junior Nakari Morrical-Palmer, who finished the game with 21 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and a steal. Although Morrical-Palmer led all scorers in the game, it was his defensive presence that made it tough for the Eagles to penetrate and find scoring within the paint.
“I like blocking shots, it makes them think, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t take it in on him next time,’” Morrical-Palmer said about his defensive performance. “I want to keep sending them out of bounds and hopefully they’ll stop taking it in to me.”
The second quarter proved to be the major difference maker for Southeast of Saline, as they only outscored Kingman 35-30 in the second half and hovered around the 17-point lead that they accumulated at halftime.
After the third place finish, the Trojans are looking to turn that momentum into a consistent formula in order to close out the season at a high level.
“Hopefully we can continue to build on what we built today moving forward,” Flax said on his team’s outlook. “For us, it’s about consistency. We got to figure out ways to do it on a regular basis. But playing good competition and that’s what this is all about, and I’m proud of our guys for competing.”
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Southeast of Saline girls fall in Sterling tournament final to 2A's top-ranked Sterling
With 27 seconds to go and trailing by three, Sterling’s Kali Briar launched and swished an NBA-range 3-pointer, which helped the Black Bears push the Sterling Invitational girls championship game into overtime and defeat Southeast of Saline 69-67 at Sterling College Friday.
“I couldn’t have done that without my teammates,” Briar said about the game-tying three-ball. “They had a great seal, I had a look, and it went in.”
How the Black Bears put themselves in position to win the game, however, was a completely different story. Sterling found themselves in a hole early after the Trojans dropped in six triples in the first quarter, which ultimately led to a 32-25 halftime deficit for the Black Bears.
“Oh man, they couldn’t miss,” Briar said when asked about the seven Trojan three-pointers in the opening quarter. “They’re a great team. We watched them the game before, and they came out and were shooting lights out against Hugoton too.”
Things continued to head the wrong direction for Sterling in the second half, who trailed by as many as 12 points and wound up trailing 48-38 going into the last quarter. However, back-to-back and-one layups by Makenna Linden and Bennie Horsch with 4:49 to play cut the Trojan lead to 54-50 and gave Sterling life.
“I just kept telling them, ‘It’s a game of runs. Calm down. We’re down only seven points at half. We just got to get a stop and chip (away),’” Sterling head coach Jill Rowland said. “It’s just the way the game goes. I think early in the second quarter we were trying to do too much too fast to catch up, and it just doesn’t work that way.”
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After the victory, Sterling keeps their undefeated season alive and strengthens their grip on the 2A No. 1 ranking. Next for the Black Bears, it’s on to Moundridge with sights set on a deep run in postseason play.
This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Southeast of Saline girls place 2nd, boys 3rd at Sterling invitational
