Seward Sends Sophs Out in Style

With only pride on the line, the #20 Seward County Lady Saints came out Wednesday night in their final Jayhawk West Conference game of the season strong, cooling off a red hot Pratt Lady Beavers team with a 72-54 win to pick up their 25^th win of the season.  The first half was a close, back and forth affair which Seward led 38-32 at the half.  The second half was a different story as the Lady Saints opened things up early in the half and coasted to the 18 point win. 

In a game where Pratt had everything to play for and Seward next to nothing, it was the Lady Beavers who came out the aggressors early on, taking a 6-0 lead before a three point play from Shanise Brooks put Seward on the board 3:15 into the game.  Pratt remained in front until the 13:56 mark when Payton Fleming drained an elbow jumper to put the Lady Saints on top 11-10.  Later on with the game tied at 14, Rebekah Hatchard drilled a three for Seward to make it 17-14 and midway through the half Fabiana Monte scored on the break for Seward to make it 24-18.  Neither side could get much going over the next four minutes and it remained a six point Seward lead as the clock went under 5:00 to go in the half.  The Lady Beavers got to within three at 31-28 before a three at the first half buzzer by Monte stretched the Seward lead back to six at 38-32 at the break. 

The Lady Saints bench was its strong point in the first half as Hatchard led Seward with 11 points and Fleming was their second leading scorer with 8, neither one of which started the game.  Seward shot 47% as a team in the half and Pratt shot 41%, getting the bulk of their offense from the conference's leading scorer Tatiana Grant who had 15 first half points. 

With Pratt continuing to hang around early in the second half Monte canned another three ball for the Lady Saints to put them up by double digits, 44-34, and Seward continued their push, going on a 10-0 run to open their advantage up to 51-34 before a Pratt timeout with 13:13 to go.  It remained a 17 point game in favor of Seward at the second half media timeout and despite the best efforts from Grant, the Lady Saints kept their distance at 63-49 as the clock worked its way under 5:00.  Monte's fourth three of the game and a finish in the paint by Brooks gave Seward their largest lead of the game at 69-49 and the Lady Saints cruised to the finish line, winning 72-54 to spoil Pratt's chances for a first round home playoff game. 

Seward shot 57% in the second half and finished the game at 51% shooting, a big relief for the Lady Saints who had shot better than 50% just once in their previous seven games.  The Lady Saints held Pratt to just 34% shooting on the night and locked them down to 7 second half field goals and 26% shooting.  Seward finished the night 7 for 16 from the three point line on the night, good for a 44%.  Monte led Seward with 17 points in the win.  Hatchard continued her hot streak with 16 points, and Brooks had 15 for Seward.  Grant was as usual the show for Pratt, finishing with 24 points and 13 rebounds on the night. 

The Lady Saints improve to 25-5 overall on the season and finish Jayhawk West play at 10-4, good for 2^nd place.  The 25 wins overall mark the 17^th time that the Lady Saints have achieved that feat, while the 10 conference wins mark the 18^th consecutive season of 10 or more conference wins for Seward.  Pratt ends their regular season at 20-10 overall and 7-7 in conference action.  The Lady Beavers finished in a three way tie for 3^rd place in the league standings. 

Seward will now turn their sights on the Region VI Tournament where they will enter as the #4 overall seed.  The Lady Saints will matchup with Neosho County in the first round of the tournament which begins Saturday in the Greenhouse at 6:00.  Free tickets are available at any of the businesses listed on the bottom of the Lady Saints new athletics website www.sewardsaints.com. 

#20 SEWARD COUNTY/PRATT BOX SCORE