Special to the Leader & Times
Seward defeated Neosho County 124-50 in the first round of the Region VI tournament. The Lady Saints will head to Independence for the second round.
Seward County was paced by a season-high 29 points for Madina Camara as she went 12-20 from the field and 5-10 from downtown.
The Lady Saints started with an 11-2 lead and established their fast-paced style. The Panthers could not get their offense established with Seward’s full-court defense able to get turnovers to create easy opportunities around the rim. At the end of the first quarter, Seward County had a 33-14 lead.
The second quarter had more balanced scoring from the two teams but the Lady Saints still held their lead. Seward went into halftime with a 53-31 lead and outscored Neosho in the second quarter 19-17. The Lady Saints shot 42 percent from the field in the first half and connected on eight threes in the half.
In the third quarter, Seward County took control of the game and outscored Neosho 41-11 to take a 93-42 advantage after a Wiktoria Kazimierowicz three. The Lady Saints connected on 16 threes through three quarters.
Seward closed out the game outscoring Neosho 31-8 in the fourth quarter. The Lady Saints shot 45 percent from the field for the game and 32 percent from downtown as they had 19 threes for the game.
Seward County also had Sierra Morrow with 21 points in 18 minutes of action and Zhane Thompson had 20 points in her starting role. Hulda Joaquim had 13 points, six rebounds and Sydney Wetlaufer had 12 points and three rebounds in the win.
The Lady Saints will be on the road Wednesday to take on Independence. The last time these two teams faced off was Feb. 20 with the Lady Saints winning 93-91 over the Pirates. The winner will head to Friends University for the Region VI Semifinals.