#22 Seward Drops Another Heartbreaker to #8 Hutch

It is a story that is starting to get a little bit old for the Seward County Lady Saints; holding a second half lead just to see it fade away late in a close loss to the Hutchinson Lady Blue Dragons.  The same story reared its ugly head on Wednesday in the Sports Arena in Hutchinson as Seward had a halftime lead and a five point lead in the fourth quarter before watching it slip away late and seeing Hutchinson sneak away with a 66-62 victory in a highly contested Jayhawk Conference contest.

It was a good game early on between Seward County and Hutchinson as surprisingly the Lady Saints and Lady Dragons traded punches on the offensive end of the floor rather than their normal blue collar defenses as Seward got out to a 9-7 lead behind five quick points from Clitan de Sousa.  Hutch went on a 5-0 run to take a 12-9 lead of their own, but the Lady Saints closed out the quarter strong, getting five more points from de Sousa in the final 1:52 to hold a 20-18 lead after one.  The Lady Saints shot 56% in the quarter and took advantage of 7 Hutchinson turnovers, cashing them into 7 points in the period. 

With Hutchinson up two early in the second, Erin Richardson came in off the Seward bench with a big three to give them the lead back and a driving layup from Tiani White moments later stretched the Lady Saints lead to five at 29-24 with 4:52 left in the half.  After a Dragon bucket cut it back to a three point Seward lead, another Richardson three gave the Lady Saints their largest lead of the half at 32-26, but they were unable to hold it as Hutchinson scored 6 of the final 8 points of the half to cut Seward's lead to just two at the break 34-32.  Seward finished the half shooting 52% from the field as a team while Hutchinson ended the first 20 minutes shooting 45%.  The Lady Saints also took advantage of 13 Blue Dragon turnovers, turning them into 13 points, while Hutch held the advantage on the glass at 19-10. 

The third quarter was not a good one for Seward.  Hutchinson came out of the locker room at half outscoring the Lady Saints 13-3 to quickly erase the Seward advantage and take their biggest lead of the night at 47-39.  Seward settled down, working the Hutch lead back to three on four free throws from Daniela Galindo and a scoop shot in the lane by Neidy Ocuane, but a late runner for the Dragons hit its mark and after three it was Hutchinson 50 and Seward 45.  The Lady Saints managed just three field goals in the quarter, shooting 27% from the field.  

The Lady Saints weren't deterred by the fourth quarter deficit though, wasting no time in knotting the game up as Axelle Bernard worked her way into the post and scored and Galindo connected on a three to make it a 50-50 game, literally.  After a pair of free throws gave Hutch the lead back, the Lady Saints went on another mini-run, this time a 7-0 jaunt behind another Galindo three and a pair of scores inside from Joanna Grymek to give the gals in green a five point lead, 57-52 with just 5:48 to go.  In less than a minute, Hutchinson cut the Lady Saints lead to one and with 4:11 to go, the Dragons took the lead back 58-57.  The chess match continued as the Lady Saints scored to put them on top by one before White finished in traffic to give Seward a three point lead, 61-58 with 2:39 remaining.  A defensive breakdown by the Lady Saints left the Dragons open for three and they cashed in on their next trip down the court to tie the game at 61 and the momentum swung squarely in Hutch's direction.  A pair of Dragon free throws made it a 63-61 game with 1:41 to go and the Lady Saints couldn't cash in on their trip to the line one minute later as they went just one for two to remain down by one with 41 seconds left.  With the ball, down two moments later, the Lady Saints drew up a set play, but were unable to connect on a backside lob pass and gave the ball back to the Dragons without a shot.  Hutch made another free throw and the Lady Saints were called for an illegal screen on their next chance down the floor and that was all she wrote for the gals in green as the Dragons closed them out with two free throws to give the home team a 66-62 win. 

Both teams shot under 40% in the second half to put Seward at 42% in the game and Hutch at 41%.  A huge difference came at the foul line where the Lady Dragons shot 20 free throws on the night, making 15 of those attempts while Seward connected on 5 of their 6 tries in the game. 

Galindo led Seward with 15 points in the game, 13 of those coming in the second half while White had 11 and de Sousa and Grymek each had 10. 

The Lady Saints fall to 14-5 overall and 6-3 in Jayhawk Conference action while Hutchinson continues their roll, winning their ninth straight to improve to 19-1 overall and 9-1 in league play.

Seward will be on the road again in their next outing when they travel to Great Bend to take on Barton in a Saturday afternoon matinee. 

#22 SEWARD COUNTY/#8 HUTCHINSON BOX SCORE