Seward ran into a very good Adams Central team in the Central Conference tournament championship but stayed with the Patriots before coming up short 44-40 Jan. 27.
“We thought they’d be a tough match-up,” Coach Beth Bohuslavsky said. “We didn’t execute late in the game.”
The Jays got off to a slow start but led 31-30 after the third quarter. Adams Central outscored SHS 14-9 in the final frame to take home the victory.
“It was championship basketball,” Bohuslavsky said.
Karlee Baack and Lovely Hibbert each scored 11 to lead Seward. Hibbert also had eight rebounds.
“Lovely did a nice job in the paint,” Bohuslavsky said. “Karlee did a lot of good things – attacking the rim and crashing the boards.”
Kelsey Miller finished well when she got the ball inside and recorded nine points, the coach said.
The Jays opened the tournament Jan. 23 with a 69-32 win over Columbus Lakeview in Seward.
“We took care of business like we needed to,” Bohuslavsky said.
The Seward pressure was able to force 26 turnovers, and the offense was able to convert those to 31 points.
Bohuslavsky said the Vikings were dealing with some difficult circumstances and were emotionally drained. The two teams will meet again Jan. 30, and she expects Lakeview to be a different team.
“Credit them. They played hard,” she said.
Jeffi Schaefer and Miller scored 11 points each and Kennedy Limback added 10.
The win sent the Jays to the semifinals against York, and SHS took down the Dukes 52-34.
“They always play hard,” Bohuslavsky said. “We executed our game plan well and took advantage inside.”
Seward finished with 28 points in the paint to York’s eight. Hibbert scored a career-high 16 points and added four rebounds. She was the only Bluejay to reach double figures.
Baack and Ona Stutzman scored nine points each.
Bohuslavsky said Seward won a lot of the 50-50 balls (loose balls that could have gone to either team), which she was happy to see.
“We did leave points out there,” she said.
Limback had a good game on defense, guarding York’s Kiki Portwine and holding her to just six points, Bohuslavsky said.
Seward (8-7) defeated Lakeview 56-34 Jan. 30 and will be at Lincoln Northwest Thursday, Feb. 1. On Saturday, Feb. 3, the Jays will host Blair at 2 p.m.
Northwest is competing at the varsity level for the first time, since it is a new school. Bohuslavsky said they will be scrappy but she hopes the Jays’ tempo will bother them.
Blair is a well-rounded team that will keep Seward’s hands full, she said.
“We’ll need to attack inside and get nice looks at the rim,” she said.
