Lady Saints Fall to Butler in Region VI Quarterfinals

Liberal, Kansas – Seward County Lady Saints basketball saw their 2023-24 season come to an end on Tuesday afternoon as they took on the Butler Grizzlies in the Quarterfinals of the Region VI Tournament where SCCCs bench scoring kept it to a one-point game entering halftime but could not stop the four seeded Butler from grabbing the win 75-58 to finish the Lady Saints' season.

Seward County fought hard in the first quarter of action with Xoe Rosalez and Jamia Carter combining for a pair of buckets in the opening seconds while a big three from the corner by Biyyanah Ellis off the bench handed the Lady Saints their first lead of the game 12-10. A hard-fought post score at the rim from Sanaa Dennis ended the first ten minutes with the green and white ahead 14-12 over the Grizzlies to put the Lady Saints on pace for a big upset in the Region VI Tournament.

Bench scoring from Seward County helped keep their lead alive as Ellis connected on a mid-range jumper before sinking two straight threes to put her in double figures and help the Lady Saints maintain a 21-19 lead over Butler. SCCC managed to grow their lead all the way out to eight but a 7-1 run after the media timeout from the Grizzlies closed the gap back to two before a floater from Naomi Aragonez pushed it back to four at 30-26 with two minutes left. A quick five unanswered points from Butler to end the second quarter handed them the lead back at 31-30 over Seward County entering the halftime break.

A 6-0 run from the hosting Grizzlies pushed their lead out to seven as the Lady Saints struggled to lift the lid on the rim, only able to knock down some free throws to stay in reach as Butler's advantage improved out to 44-31. A parade at the line from Allie Myers helped close the gap back down to ten but was not enough as the Lady Saints ended the third quarter behind 52-37 to the Grizzlies.

Ari Gordon refused to back down against the third seeded Butler as she forced her way down the middle of the paint for a floater while Carter banked in another three for Seward County to cut away at the Grizzlies lead to put the score at 61-45. Aragonez managed to help the Lady Saints a little more to keep her sophomore season alive a little longer with late triple in the fourth but could not prevent Butler from grabbing the win 75-58 and ending the 2023-24 season for Seward County.

Ellis led the Lady Saints with 11 points on the game while Gordon added on 10 of her own for the green and white. Seward County wraps up their season with a 17-15 overall record to give Head Coach Will Marchino a winning record as his first season manning the helm for the program.