Saints Offense Remains Slow, Defense Solid in Weekend Split

One season ago, the Seward County Saints were averaging 88 points per game through their first four games of the season, two years ago 100 per contest, this season however has been a little bit more of a struggle on the offensive end for the guys in green and it was no different once again this weekend at the Garden City Pepsi Classic.  In their first game of the weekend, the Saints took on #25 North Platte in a Friday afternoon matinee.  Seward couldn't buy a bucket in the early going and didn't put a field goal on the board until nearly six minutes into the game.  The Saints continued to fight tooth and nail for every point throughout the afternoon and in the end would come up short 57-54.  Saturday they stepped up slightly on the offensive end, shooting a season high 41% from the field, but it was their defense which came up big, holding Kingdom Prep to just 6 second half field goals in a 72-57 victory.

 The Saints knew their Friday afternoon affair with #25 North Platte was going to be a hard fought one.  Afterall, the Knights were coming off of a school record 30 wins in 2012-2013 and made it to the second round of the NJCAA National Tournament a season ago where they narrowly missed an upset of the top seeded Iowa Western Reivers in the round of 16.  It was tough sledding early on for both teams as the scoreboard held just eight points on it as the first five minutes of the game ticked by.  Seward was held without a field goal for the first 5:46 of the contest before Brian Bridgeforth, who scored each of the Saints first five points, tied the game at 5-5 at the 14:14 mark of the first half.  It took three more minutes before either side would score as a North Platte free throw broke the deadlock to put the Knights up 6-5 with 11:39 to go in the first.  The Saints continued to struggle on offense and didn't get their second field goal of the game until the 9:05 mark when Secean Johnson scored to cut the North Platte lead to 12-11.  Each side picked things up slightly as the half winded down, but it was North Platte who went to the locker rooms with a 27-21 halftime lead. 

                Each side had to have felt pretty lucky with the score considering the circumstances as the half came to a close as North Platte held a six point lead despite losing two of their top three scorers to foul trouble within the first five minutes of the half and the Saints trailed by just six after one of their worst offensive halfs in recent memory.  Seward shot just 20% in the first 20 minutes and managed just 4 field goals in the period. 

                Adjustments during the halftime break boded well for both sides as both the Saints and Knights offense started picking up the pace.  Against a 2-3 zone, the Saints were forced to try to get into the lane or make shots from the outside against North Platte, both of which they succeeded on with a higher rate than they had in the first 20 minutes of play.  However, it seemed as if everytime the Saints put the ball in the basket on their end, North Platte answered right back with a bucket of their own and it remained a close game, but in favor of the Knights at 44-36 midway through the second half.  Out of the media timeout the Saints got a big three from Quentin Purtue and it seemed to jump start them as they moved within striking distance before seldom used Verdell Mays came into the game and gave Seward the spark they were looking for.  After averaging just 5 minutes and 1 point per game for Seward in their first two games of the season, Mays wasted no time in making his presence felt in this one as he drove to the basket after checking in and scored to give Seward their first lead of the second half at 50-49 with 4:10 remaining.  North Platte answered right back though as the Saints let their leading scorer Ethan Montalvo free on the other end to score two of his game high 17 points to give the Knights the lead back.  The Saints trailed 56-53 into the final minute when a disputed call by North Platte coach Kevin O'Connor resulted in a technical foul with 26 seconds left to send the Saints to the line with a chance to get to within one.  Seward made just one of the two freebies and remained behind 56-54 after the free throw.  The Saints couldn't find a way to tie the game on their next possession and a foul and free throw by North Platte put the Knights up 57-54 but still gave the Saints a chance to tie with the ball in their hand and one final chance.  Despite calling a timeout and diagraming a play, Seward Coach Bryan Zollinger didn't see things go the way he had quite planned and a missed three pointer from the corner sealed the deal as Seward fell 57-54. 

                The Saints picked things up on the offensive end in the second half to finish the half shooting 41% and 32% for the game, but it came at the mercy of their defense who saw the Knights shoot 53% in the period and finish the game at 40%.  Kevin Smith led Seward with 12 points in 24 minutes of work while Bridgeforth and Stevenson each chipped in 10.  Mays scored 8 off the Saints bench in just 11 minutes of action.  The Saints finished the contest with just 1 assist while turning the ball over 16 times. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#25 NORTH PLATTE BOX SCORE

                Early on in their battle with Kingdom Prep, a school who knocked off the Saints in their Jayhawk West Conference Championship season a year ago, it looked like dejavu for Seward as they once again failed to get anything going offensively early on and were tied at 6 with the prep school from Iowa five minutes into the game.  The Saints picked things up in the next 10 minutes and grabbed a 24-19 lead as the first half clock ticked under five minutes to go.  Seward extended their lead to six before the halftime break, taking a 32-26 advantage into the locker rooms.

                The Saints held Kingdom Prep to just 32% shooting in the first 20 minutes while hitting on 46% of their field goal attempts and 44% from downtown. 

                Seward came out of the locker room flat however and within six minutes, found themselves trailing to the prepsters 39-38.  The teams went back and forth until the Saints finally grabbed the lead back for good at 52-48 with eight minutes remaining.  Seward wasn't able to break away from Kingdom Prep as time wound down, but they were able to keep them at bey, carrying a 59-53 lead into the final two minutes of the contest.  After playing three point games in each of their first three games of the season, the Saints were confortable in the tight spot late in the game and finished this one out strong, outscoring Kingdom Prep 13-4 in the final two minutes of the game to come away with a 72-57 win. 

                The Saints allowed just 6 field goals to Kingdom Prep in the second half and allowed them to shoot just 29% in the game.  The 57 points scored by Kingdom Prep might have even been a little bit deceiving as to their offensive production in the contest as they were a perfect 17 for 17 from the free throw line in the second half against the Saints.  Seward's offense was the best that it has been all season as they matched a season high with 72 points and shot their best from the field this season, hitting on 41% of their field goals in the game.  Niem Stevenson and Tyreke Sharp shared the team lead with 17 points while Brian Bridgeforth notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

SEWARD COUNTY/KINGDOM PREP BOX SCORE

                The split moves the Saints to 2-2 on the year, their slowest four game start in the past 10 seasons.  Things won't get any easier for Seward however as next weekend they welcome to town a pair of powers from the Lone Star State.  The Saints open the Billy's/Days Inn Classic Friday and will take on  4-1 Midland at 8:00 in the Greenhouse followed by a date with #9 and 2012 NJCAA National Champion South Plains on Saturday at 8:00.  Free tickets courtesey of our buyout sponsors Billy's and Days Inn are available at Billy's, Days Inn, Hutch's, and KSCB.