Hot Shooting Beavers Chop Saints Down in Pratt

Just when the Seward County Saints thought they were over last seasons buzzer beater by Pratt to end their season, luck found its way onto the Beavers side again Wednesday night in the Beaverdome in Pratt as the defending Region VI Champs got a half court buzzer beater to end the first half and hung on to knock off the defending Jayhawk West Champ Saints 88-86. 

Oddly enough when looking at the final score, it was actually a defensive battle early on between the Saints and Beavers as Seward and Pratt were tied at just 8 early on and traded points to 13-13 at the midway mark of the first half.  The action picked up from there and Pratt took advantage of the pace, grabbing an 18-16 lead and stretching it to 32-26 before a late 10-3 run by the Saints gave them a 36-35 edge with 3.9 seconds left in the half.  Like dejavu all over again, the Beavers zig zaged up the floor to the far side at half court and heaved a shot that miraculously went off the backboard and in to give Pratt a 38-36 lead into the half.   

Pratt was on point in the first 20 minutes, hitting on 52% of their field goals and 46% from downtown while the Saints matched them for the most part, shooting 41% from the floor and 40% from three point land.  Jamal Poplar and Kevin Sims carried the load for Seward, combining for 23 of the Saints 36 first half points. 

Seward continued to get better offensively as the game went along, but Pratt didn't miss a beat either and despite a solid start to the second half, the Saints found themselves in a 58-54 hold with 13:30 to go after the Beavers opened the period by hitting 6 of 7 shots from the field.  The teams went tit for tat in the exciting affair and it remained a four point Pratt lead at the second half media timeout.  A pair of big threes by Seward got them to within one and a free throw knotted the game at 71 with 6:38 to go.  Seward grabbed a two point, 78-76 lead moments later, but an 8-0 run by the Beavers put the Saints in a six point hold with 1:45 left.  With their top two scorers in the game on the bench, Seward still managed to make a run, climbing to within two with time running out on the clock when a potential go ahead three pointer came up dreadfully short to all but pop their winning balloon.  Pratt put in two free throws to ice it in the final seconds and a late bucket by Seward proved inconsequential as the Beavers hung on to win a wild one 88-86. 

The Saints fell despite one of their best offensive efforts of the season, shooting 49% from the field as a team and canning 11 three pointers at a 48% rate on the night.  Seward also shot the ball well from the free throw line, going 17 for 20.  However, it was too much Beaver action for Seward as Pratt shot 55% from the floor, 45% from three, and 71% from the line in the win.  Five Saints reached double figures in the loss, led by Sims who scored a game  high 18 and Nick Singleton who added 17.  Both Darius Polley and Secean Johnson had 14 while Poplar scored 12 in limited time before fouling out. 

Seward loses for the second straight year in Pratt and after a six game Seward winning streak in the series, the Beavers have now won three of four.  The Saints fall to 8-7 overall on the year and even back up at 1-1 in Jayhawk West action.  Pratt continues their roll, improving to 11-5 overall and 2-0 in Jayhawk West play. 

Next up for the Saints is a return home to the Greenhouse Saturday where they will host #23 Cloud County on Hall of Fame night at Seward County.  The Saints Athletics Class of 2015 will be announced for the very first time immediately before Seward's contest with the T-Birds.  Free tickets are available courtesy of the Bank of Beaver City at their Liberal location as well as at Hutch's. 

SEWARD COUNTY/PRATT BOX SCORE