Southeast of Saline girls basketball picking up right where they left off from 2020-21 season
The Southeast of Saline girls are picking up right where they left off.
After finishing 15-7 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the North Central Activities Association, the Trojans are looking to take that next step. They will have everybody back from that team when they open their season at Hesston on Friday.
"We've already put things together faster," said Southeast coach Shauna Smith, who enters her sixth season. "Having so many veterans on the court (and) good leaders, we've already kind of jumped right into everything.
"We feel like we're not having to teach things. That's a (positive) to us."
Southeast returns all five starters from last year's team, led by three-time All-NCAA first-team selection Karsyn Schlesener, who averaged 14.8 points, five rebounds, three assists and 2.2 steals per game as a junior.
Schlesener, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, is also approaching the career 1,000-point mark, where she will be the ninth Trojan to do so.
"The girls really look up to her being the role model and being a leader," Smith said of Schlesener.
Returning alongside Schlesener are seniors Mallorie Pearson (5-7, 4.4 ppg), Alaina Yianakopulos (5-7, 5.5 ppg), junior Avery Caselman (5-8, 4.2 ppg) and sophomore Maddie Harris (5-6, 8.1 ppg.).
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"I think we're going to have many nights when we're going to have different leading scorers," Smith said. "Avery Caselman played a ton this summer and you can just tell her basketball IQ went up. Her leadership role went up."
Junior Reagan Goetz and sophomores Brielle Ptacek and Lexi Jacobson will have reserve roles behind the Trojans' starting five.
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"What's kind of nice is even when we go to our bench right away, we're not dropping off by any means," Smith said. "We're just sending in a second wing that is still capable of scoring. Sometimes you go (with) the second group (that) maybe can't score as well or something, but we've already kind of talked about that's definitely not going to be our case this year."
Southeast does have the target on its back as reigning NCAA champion. After playing two tough nonconference games against Hesston and Smoky Valley (Dec.7), the Trojans have two league games before Christmas with Beloit (Dec. 10) and Sacred Heart (Dec. 20) sandwiched around a pair of nonconference games at Abilene (Dec. 14) and Hillsboro (Dec. 17).
"I think it's going to be a lot more competitive this year," Smith said of the NCAA.
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One thing Smith told her team was that the Trojans played a lot of good teams close last year, but didn't beat them. That's the next step toward success, especially with four tough nonconference games before Christmas and the Sterling Tournament in January.
"Hesston's going to be our first step of beating somebody that's good," Smith said. "Then we're going to have Smoky Valley and Hillsboro and all of those other teams.
SE SALINE GIRLS
Head coach: Shauna Smith (6th year, 95-112)
League: NCAA
Classification: 3A
Last year's record: 15-7
Returning starters (5): Karsyn Schlesneer, 5-8, sr., G; Mallorie Pearson, 5-7, sr., G; Alaina Yianakopulos, 5-7, sr., G; Avery Caselman, 5-8, jr., G; Maddie Harris, 5-6, soph., G.
Other top returning players: Reagan Goetz, 5-9, jr., G/F; Brielle Ptacek, 5-4, soph., G; Lexi Jacobson, 5-7, soph., G/F.
SCHEDULE
DECEMBER: 3, at Hesston; 7, at Smoky Valley; 10, Beloit; 14, at Abilene; 17, Hillsboro; 20, Sacred Heart.
JANUARY: 7, at Minneapolis; 11, Clay Center; 17-21, Sterling Invitational; 25, Republic Co.; 28, at Ellsworth.
FEBRUARY: 1, at Sacred Heart; 4, Chapman; 8, at Beloit; 11, Minneapolis; 14, at Ellinwood; 15, Ellsworth; 22, at Republic Co.
Dylan Sherwood has been a sports reporter for the Salina Journal since August 2019. He can be reached at dsherwood@salina.com or on Twitter @DSherwoodSJ
This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: How Southeast of Saline's girls basketball picked up where it left off
