EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
The Lady Saints secured a No. 5 seed for the Region VI tournament after knocking off Cowley 104-55 on Homecoming at Seward County Community College.
The Lady Saints came out strong and jumped out to a lead they would never surrender.
Midway through the first quarter the Lady Saints only had a 7-6 lead before finishing the period on a 14-0 run to push out to a 21-6 lead.
The Lady Saints continued to put the defensive pressure on the Lady Tigers in the second quarter, and midway though the period the Lady Saints opened up a 29-8 lead.
The Lady Saints led by as many as 24 points in the second quarter and took a 41-18 lead at half.
Cowley had a better start to the third quarter and began to make aggressive moves to the basket, but they couldn’t slow down the Lady Saints.
Seward continued to outpace the Lady Tigers by outscoring Cowley by eight in the period to take a 75-44 lead,
And the pressure continued in the fourth quarter with the Lady Saints pushing the lead to 98-53 with 2:43 to play.
The Seward crowd sensed the century mark, and after a couple of possessions came up empty, Yllza Uka made a layup to reach 100, and the crowd erupted.
Seward coasted to the 104-55 win to secure their fifth seed playoff spot.
Avery Marchino set the pace for the Lady Saints with 30 points. Kimora Fagan scored 16, Destiny Alexander had 14, Trinitee Holmes scored 13, and Tyniah Smith came off the bench to score 11.
The Lady Saints (19-10, 14-9 conference) will play Dodge City (24-4, 19-4 conference) in the Greenhouse in the final game of the regular season and will host a first round playoff game Saturday.
If the Lady Saints win Saturday, they will travel to Coffeyville to face the Lady Red Ravens. Seward lost 55-45 to Coffeyville in the Greenhouse Nov. 25 and then lost by two, 58-56 at Coffeyville Jan. 28.
