The Seward girls’ basketball team won its subdistrict Feb. 20 but lost the district final Feb. 24 to see its season come to an end short of the state tournament with a 16-8 record.
Seward played York for the third time this season and pulled out a 55-51 win. SHS Coach Beth Bohuslavsky said the Jays made good defensive changes but didn’t execute as well as they had the first two times the teams met. York also shot better than in the first two meetings, she said.
The Jays stuck with the game plan and didn’t panic, she said.
“It was a good gritty team win,” she said.
Seward led 22-21 at halftime, and the game was tied 32-32 at the end of the third quarter.
Bohuslavsky said York sped up the SHS offense and forced 17 turnovers. While Seward was able to get the ball inside, she thought they could have done better with the height advantage.
Kelsey Miller led the team with 20 points and did a good job with her double move inside, the coach said. With nine rebounds, she just missed a double double.
Kennedy Limback and Karlee Baack each scored 11 points, and Ona Stutzman connected for 10. Limback made a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter, and Baack made back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, as well.
“We were able to open it up in the fourth,” Bohuslavsky said.
Ona Stutzman, who struggled with foul trouble all night, made a triple with about a minute left to seal the game, Bohuslavsky said. Miller was 8-8 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Seward jumped out to a 10-2 lead to open Saturday’s district championship against South Sioux City but couldn’t keep the momentum in the 57-38 loss.
SSC went on a 15-0 run to take a 17-10 lead by the end of the first period.
“They made shots, and their defense disrupted what we wanted to do,” Bohuslavsky said.
Seward cut the lead to 37-35 with 7:38 to play in the game, but another big run by the Cardinals put the game out of reach.
“We got the looks we wanted,” she said.
Bohuslavsky said the Jays didn’t shoot well, making just 2-24 from three and 6-20 from two. SHS averaged six to eight made three-pointers per game, which allowed the team to open its inside options.
“South Sioux answered every time we got a stop,” Bohuslavsky said.
Hibbert led the team with 11 points and eight rebounds and was 9-12 from the line.
This was Seward’s third championship game of the season (holiday tournament, conference and district), and SHS lost all three. All came down to execution, Bohuslavsky said.
“Winning is hard,” she said. “We have to learn to win and understand how to win.”
Some of the team had never been in a basketball championship setting, though they have been in other sports, she said.
Bohuslavsky thanked the community and student body for its support and enthusiasm during the season and Saturday’s game.
“The gym was rocking,” she said.
Overall, Bohuslavsky said, the season has plenty of good things to build on.
Seward will graduate three seniors – Haylie Sloup, Ona Stutzman and Lovely Hibbert. Bohuslavsky said they were freshmen her first year as head coach.
“They were awesome to coach. They are great players and better kids,” she said.
She said they provided good leadership to the team and made it more of a family.
Bohuslavsky encouraged the team to participate in other sports outside of basketball. Sports benefit each other with different skills and strengths and help make an athlete a more well-rounded person, she said.
