Saints Split With Two of the Nations Best

On paper it was one of the biggest weekends of the year for the Seward County Saints and it came just three weeks into their 2013-2014 season.  On the schedule for Seward County in the Billy's/Days Inn Classic were two powers from the Lone Star State in the 2007 National Champion Midland Chaparrals and the 2012 National Champion South Plains Texans.  Friday against Midland, the Saints controlled the game from the opening tip.  Seward opened up a 14 point lead before the half and breezed through the second half in a 67-48 win over the Chaps.  Saturday was a different story.  After looking good early, the Saints had an 8 point lead with three minutes remaining in the half, but from that point on, it was all South Plains.  The Texans outscored Seward 53-26 in the final 23 minutes of the game to walk about of the Greenhouse with a 76-57 win over the Saints.  

Against Midland, the Saints got off to a slow start, trailing 5-2 to start the game, but a finish on the inside by Niem Stevenson and a drive and score Kevin Smith put the Saints on top 6-5 and little did they know, it would be for good.  For a six minute stretch through the middle part of the first half, the Saints defense threw things into a completely different gear, keeping Midland off the scoreboard from the 15:11 mark of the half all the way to the 10:01  point as they went on a 12-0 run to open up a 20-7 lead.  The underdog Saints continued to pour it on the Chaparrals, stretching their lead to 15 at 29-14 on another athletic move on the inside from Stevenson with 3:43 to go in the half.  Seward's lead would balloon to as many as 17 before a last minute score from Midland made it a 14 point game at the half.  The Saints took a 37-23 lead into the break, shooting 47% in the first half while holding a star studded Midland team to just 23% shooting and 7 field goals in the period. 

It took a while for either side to get going in the second half with the first bucket coming over four minutes in when Smith knocked down a three from the top of the key to put the Saints up 40-24.  Every time that Midland tried to make a run, the Saints had an answer.  Seward held the Chaps at bey, never seeing their lead dip below 14 for the rest of the contest.  With a tenacious defensive effort, Seward salted the game away, thwarting any Midland thought of a comeback.  The Saints finished as strong as they started, getting a three pointer from Stevenson in the final minute to put the cherry on top of a 67-48 blowout win against one of the perennial favorites for a national title. 

Seward's defense was outstanding in the win, holding Midland to just 25% shooting in the game and 15 field goals on the night.  The .254 shooting percentage by Midland marked the lowest opponents shooting percentage against the Saints since Trinidad State shot .214 in November of 2007 in a Seward win.  The Saints matched their best offensive shooting percentage of the year at 42%.  Smith led the Saints with 20 points off the bench while Stevenson went for 17 points and 7 rebounds.  Malcolm Hill-Bey pitched in 13 for Seward and Brian Bridgeforth tied Stevenson for the team lead with 7 rebounds to go along with his 6 points. 

SEWARD COUNTY/MIDLAND BOX SCORE

With the confidence of a win over Midland from a night before, the Saints hit the court Saturday night with an even stiffer task as they went toe to toe with the 9^th ranked and 6-0 South Plains Texans.  South Plains got off to a quick start, taking a 7-3 lead on the Saints, but Seward punched right back, scoring the next four points to tie things at 7 with 14:14 to go in the half.  The teams remained tied midway through the half, this time at 12, when a 5-2 mini-run by the Saints gave them a 17-14 lead with 8:53 remaining in the period, their first multi-point lead of the contest.  The Saints and Texans traded jabs to 23-23 when an 8-0 run for Seward keyed by two straight scores from Stevenson put them up 31-23 with 2:20 left in the half.  After a defensive stop, the Saints had a chance to extend their lead to double digits, but South Plains wanted nothing to do with that as they stopped the Saints and scored themselves, starting a 7-0 run of their own to cut Seward's lead to 31-30 at the break.  The numbers at the half were eerily similar with both teams shooting the exact same from the field at 11 for 33 and Seward and Midlands turnover and rebounding stats differentiating by just one. 

The Texans came out of the break on a mission, scoring the first six points to take a 36-31 lead before Seward regained its footing with a 5-0 run to tie the game back up at 36.  With the game still tied moments later, a three by Smith looked like it might give the Saints the momentum they needed to pull off the upset, but South Plains had other ideas.  The Texans used an 8-2 run to gain control of the game and never let the Saints back in again.  South Plains held Seward without a single field goal from the 10:30 mark to under the 2:30 mark, building an insurmountable 73-55 lead in the process.  The Texans put the finishing touches on the win with a pair of late free throws and walked out of the Greenhouse with a rare blowout win 76-57. 

While the Saints struggled to score in the second half, the Texans certainly did not.  South Plains outscored Seward 46-26 in the final 20 minutes, shooting 52% from the field while the Saints managed just 36% from the field and 35% overall in the game.  Seward didn't help themselves from the charity stripe either where they shot a dismal 47% from the line compared to 77% for the victorious Texans.  Stevenson led the Saints with 14 points in the win while Smith was the only other Seward player to reach double figures with 11.  Quentin Purtue played big for the Saints on the inside, leading Seward with a career high 10 rebounds and also scoring 8 points. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#9 SOUTH PLAINS BOX SCORE

With a brutal early season schedule, the Saints slow start to their 2013-2014 campaign continues as they move to 3-3 with the one up, one down weekend.  They will have their hands full once again next weekend as they travel to Dodge City to take on the now Jayhawk East's Butler on Friday followed by Raleigh's Finest Prep on Saturday at United Wireless Arena.