Short Handed Lady Saints Fall in Overtime to Trojans

Liberal, Kansas – Seward County Lady Saints basketball hit the road on Wednesday towards Colby to take on the Trojans for the second time this season where despite being shorthanded due to illness, injury, and foul trouble, SCCC was able to force overtime with the Trojans but could not capitalize as they fell on the road 73-67 to Colby.

It was a tough start for the Lady Saints as they allowed the Trojans to push in front first with seven straight points before Ari Gordon lifted the lid on the rim, sinking a floater to put Seward County on the board with Colby ahead 7-2. Kayla Peoples and Xoe Rosalez combined for back-to-back triples to trim the Trojan lead to four as the Lady Saints continued to fight back as they wrapped up the first quarter behind Colby 17-12.

A 9-4 run to start the second by the Trojans put Seward County in a tough spot entering the media timeout down by ten but a big triple from Biyyanah Ellis off the bench kept hope alive for the Lady Saints as they cut their deficit to 26-19. A quick scoring run by Gordon at the end of the quarter off some sneaky steals kept the difference at seven as Seward County trailed Colby 32-25 entering the halftime break.

Gordon kept her high-level scoring going to start the third as Rosalez found her off a steal for a fast break layup while Kezia Grant-Bobb dominated the paint as she bodied her defender for a strong layup plus the foul to cut the Trojan lead down to 37-31. E'lasia Yarbrough entered into the game for Seward County and immediately made her presence known as she drove her way to the basket for her first score of the game to keep slashing at Colby's lead and when Peoples found Grant-Bobb in the paint for another layup, it brought the Lady Saints within two points as they entered the fourth down 42-40 with momentum on their side.

A strong start to the fourth by the Trojans stretched their lead back out but another timely three-pointer from Ellis put the score back to within four at 51-47 midway through the quarter before foul trouble came into play. It was a parade at the free throw line for both sides as the referees called numerous fouls over the last few minutes as Grant-Bobb stepped to the line and sunk a pair to close the gap further to 55-50. A banked in three by Peoples with twenty seconds left on the clock put the score back to within one while a pair of clutch free throws by Rosalez forced overtime with the score locked up at 62-62.

Seward County entered the overtime period at a disadvantage with the constant foul calls resulting in five players fouling out for the Lady Saints, but the remaining group fought hard as Yarbrough pulled up for a mid-range jumper to keep the score tied at 67 but it was not enough to keep SCCC on top as the Trojans pulled away with a 73-67 win over Seward County.

With the absence of their primary big, Grant-Bobb stepped up in a big way for the Lady Saints with a career high of 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists for the green and white while Gordon tallied 12 points and 7 rebounds of her own to go with 3 blocks on the defensive end.

Seward County now sits at .500 on the 2023-24 season overall with a 14-14 record and fall to 10-12 in the Jayhawk conference. They will look to right the ship on Saturday as they make the six hour trip out to Independence for their last road game of the regular season with tip-off currently scheduled for noon.