by Stephanie Croston

    Another overtime, another win for the Seward boys' basketball team.
     The Jays defeated Omaha Skutt 48-45 at home Jan. 14, improving to 7-3 on the season, with four of those wins coming in overtime. The win followed a 57-51 loss at Schuyler Jan. 12.
     "I was real pleased we were able to come back," Coach Jim Placke said.
     Skutt and Seward traded baskets for most of the game, with neither team building a lead of more than five points. With 5.2 seconds left in regulation, Seward's Tyler Weatherholt hit a floater in the lane to tie the game at 41. Trent Schlautman missed a shot from the free throw line that would have ended the game, instead forcing an overtime period.
     With 2:34 on the clock, Weatherholt hit a pair of free throws for a 43-41 Bluejay lead, and Alex Lowther hit one of two with 1:50 left to build a 44-41 lead.
     Alex Anderson drove for a Skutt layup at the 1:37 point, cutting the lead to 44-43.
     With 40 seconds to play, Seward's Jason Owens was fouled and connected on the first of two free throws. Although he missed the second, Seward came down with the rebound, and Jordan Halvorsen was fouled.
     He hit one of two from the charity stripe for a 46-43 lead. Skutt came back with a three-point attempt from Schlautman, which missed, but Matt Foster was there to clean up the rebound and keep Skutt close at 46-45 with just 11.9 seconds remaining.
     Weatherholt was fouled again with 8.8 seconds on the clock and made both free throws, extending the lead to 48-45. Schlautman's three-pointer at the buzzer came up short, and the Jays came away with their fourth overtime win of the season.
     "I thought this was a high-level Class B basketball game," Placke said.
     One of the keys for the Jays was dictating the tempo, keeping the Skyhawks from running their transition offense.
     "We did exactly what we had to do," Placke said.
     He said the Jays' overtime success has come because the team doesn't get tight.
     "We are just playing. We kept doing what we were doing, and that's penetrate and make free throws," he said.
     Owens led the Jays with 11 rebounds, while Cade Luebbe led the SHS scorers with 16 points. Weatherholt added 14, and Halvorsen handed out five assists and grabbed six steals.
     The win came on the heels of a road loss to Schuyler.
     "On the road against a top 10 team, we knew it would be difficult to win," Placke said.
     Placke said the Warriors created some match-up problems for the Jays with a 6-foot 5-inch player who could go inside or outside.
     Seward also committed 16 turnovers in the game, a high total for the Jays, and didn't play as sharp offensively as Placke likes to see, thanks to Schuyler's 1-2-2 match-up zone.
     However, Seward didn't give up. Despite trailing by 14 at one point in the third quarter, the Jays battled back to cut the lead to three.
     "We made a run at them, but we were not sharp enough." Placke said. "We didn't have the pop in our step we need."
     Weatherholt led the Jays with 14 points and Owens pulled down 16 rebounds.
     Halvorsen dished out seven assists, and Lowther grabbed four steals.
    Upcoming action
     The opponents don't get easier for the Jays this week. Seward will travel to Lincoln Christian Thursday, Jan. 19, for a 7:15 p.m. game and will host Aurora Friday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m.
     Placke said Lincoln Christian has been both scoring a lot of points and giving up a lot, so the style of play will be different from what the Jays are used to seeing.
     Placke said he wants the Jays to play a solid game in Lincoln.
     "We need to do that to gain confidence on the road," he said.
     Aurora will be a "grind-out type of game," he said. The Huskies return four starters from last year's team.