Hutch Gets Past Saints to Snap Home Court Winning Streak
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hutchinson Community College | 30 | 45 | 75 |
|
Seward County Community College | 30 | 35 | 65 |
The Greenhouse has been a tough place for opponents to play in recent years and the Seward County Saints 20 game Jayhawk West home court winning streak goes to show that fact, but Wednesday night in front of their home crowd, the Saints fell flat against rival Hutchinson, trailing for all but 1:16 in a 75-65 defeat at the hands of the 18th ranked Dragons to fall below .500 to 10-11 and 3-5 in conference play on the season.
In front of a good weekday crowd still buzzing from a nail-biting women's game moments before, the Saints struggled early against the rival Blue Dragons, falling behind 15-4 to start the game after a number of point blank misses on the offensive end of the floor. To their credit, the Saints fought back, getting all the way back to within one at 15-14 after a three by Darius Polley capped a 10-0 run and after a Dragon hoop, Mitchell Packard raised up and hit a triple to tie the score at 17 with 9:28 to go in the half. Hutchinson quickly answered and a 7-0 Dragon run had Hutch up 24-17 just three minutes later. The Saints weren't sharp, but neither was Hutch in the final 6:30 and a couple of big buckets followed by a couple of stops had Seward right back in it before Secean Johnson drove to the basket and scored to tie the game at 30 just before the half.
Both teams shot 37% in the first half and Hutch turned it over 11 times to Seward's 5, but the Saints weren't able to take advantage of the giveaways because of a 28-12 Dragon lead on the glass in the first 20 minutes.
Another slow start to a half doomed the Saints in the second period as Seward didn't muster their first field goal until 4:15 into the half and didn't get another until under the 12:00 mark as they watched Hutch build a 14 point lead. The Dragon lead ballooned to 16 at the midway point of the half before one last push by the Saints got them to within six at 64-58 with 2:28 to go. Hutch scored to top the Saints run, but Nick Singleton cashed in a three to make it a five point ballgame. The next possession for Seward's defense was key and a breakdown ended up turning into an easy Dragon basket and that was all she wrote for Seward. Hutchinson cashed in seven of eight free throw attempts in the final minute of the game and the Saints were unable to answer as the Blue Dragons finished Seward off 75-65 to snap a 20 game Jayhawk West home court winning streak for the guys in green.
The Saints allowed Hutchinson to shoot 57% in the second half en route to a 45 point period, while Seward managed just 31% to finish the game at 34% overall. The Dragons outrebounded the shorthanded Saints by 14 in the contest and made 79% of their 29 free throw attempts while Seward was only able to collect points on 12 of 21 free throw tries on the night. Johnson led the Saints with 19 points and 9 rebounds in the loss while Tyreke Sharp put forth his best effort, going a perfect 6 for 6 from the field and 4 for 4 from three point land to finish with 16 in the losing effort.
Seward drops its fourth game in five outs, falling to 10-11 overall and 3-5 in Jayhawk West Conference action. #18 Hutchinson remains on a roll, improving to 18-4 overall and 5-3 in league play with their fourth straight win.
The Saints road won't get any easier on Saturday as they face their third straight ranked opponent when #25 Barton comes to town for an 8:00 tipoff. Free tickets are available courtesy of the buyout sponsors Ruffino's and Hampton Inn at their two Liberal establishments as well as at Hutch's, Golden Plains Credit Union, and First National Bank.