EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Seward County dug out of an 11-point hole against the nationally ranked No. 5 Dodge City Lady Conquistadors and finished the game on a 6-0 run for a 55-52 win.
Dodge City led 30-22 at half and pushed the lead to 11 early in the third quarter.
But the Lady Saints trimmed the lead back to only three at the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Saints tied the game before the Lady Conqs rebuilt a 52-49 lead.
Both teams had chances but could not score for several minutes late in the game until Kylie Hunt was fouled and made one of two free throws to cut the lead to two.
Seward forced another defensive stop and took a one-point lead in the final minute.
Dodge City attempted a shot that missed, and the Lady Saints were fouled twice to send them to the free throw line. The Lady Saints made both free throws, and when a corner three in the final seconds fell short and the Lady Saints rebounded, the buzzer sounded, and the Greenhouse erupted after the Lady Saints completed the upset 55-52 win.
“The credit goes to the players for staying focused on the game plan,” Seward coach Will Marchino said. “When we got down by 11, they clawed their way back in the game and continued to be focused on what we wanted to accomplish, and they executed tremendously in the fourth quarter. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Seward was called for a technical late in the the first half which turned a two-possession game into an eight-point lead for Dodge City.
But half wasn’t the right time to address the issue, according to Marchino
“We address that stuff after the game,” he said. “At half we talked about adjustments we needed to make. We didn’t waste our time on something that’s trivial throughout the game. We made adjustments offensively and defensively, and I thought we guarded the three point shot unbelievably well. They shot two of 20 from three, and they are the best three point shooting team in our conference and arguably the nation. To defend that like that is hats off to our players.”
Offensively, the Lady Saints needed to attack the taller Lady Conqs in the lane better in the second half.
“We had two points in the paint at halftime,” Marchino said. “That’s not okay for us. We made some adjustments, played on two feet in the paint and started to cut in from the weak side against their zone. We did a terrific job with that.”
The Lady Saints held Dodge to its lowest scoring output of the season.
“Our defense was tremendous when we needed it to be,” Marchino said. “I have full trust in our players to go out and understand when and where to make plays. We talked a lot about being disciplined and being the most disciplined team on the court. I don’t think that was the case today, but we were pretty darned close. Dodge City is such a good team. It’s a heck of a win for us.”
The Lady Saints (15-8, 10-8 conference) are fifth in the Jayhawk West and travel to Barton (12-12, 8-10) Wednesday. And Marchino doesn’t want to look too far ahead.
“We can focus on our game Wednesday at Barton,” he said. “It is a tough place to play. This is the win our program needs to understand we can play with the best of this conference if we bring it every single night.”
