Seward blows out Garden City

By Mike Pilosof

Photos by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-Three weeks after suffering a 65-point loss at the Greenhouse to Seward County, Garden City played with more energy and purpose on Wednesday night. The problem: they still lost by 30 to a conference juggernaut, one who has now won 34 out of their last 35 games in league play.

Karolina Szydlowska recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Vanda Cuamba scored 16, and No. 12 Seward blew past Garden City 102-72 at Conestoga Arena.

"I really loved the effort that a lot of the freshman gave," Interim Coach Mike "Scoop" Harding said afterwards. "They're going to start getting more playing time. We just didn't capitalize on opportunities early in this game."

The Broncbusters lost for the 11^th straight time to Seward and for the fifth consecutive time overall. They shot just 33 percent and were outrebounded by 33, 58-25.

"We knew we were going to struggle on the glass; we're small," Harding explained. "But we have to do a better job capitalizing on their turnovers."

After digging a seven-point hole in the first quarter, Dasja Ross pushed the Broncbusters back into the game, nailing three 3's in the first 10 minutes, pulling Garden City to within two, 20-18 going to the second. But the Saints took the game by the throat, scoring the first eight points of the period, six of which belonged to Cuamba that gave Seward a 28-18 lead. The sophomore got free for another layup moments later, Karolina Szydlowska drained an open 3 from the top, and freshman guard Kamry Perez knocked down two free throws, stretching the lead to 18, 51-33 with 1:07 to play. They were up 15 at the break.

"Seward comes down and knows exactly what they're doing on offense," Harding said. "They chiseled our defense a lot."

The Saints outscored the Broncbusters 32-19 in the second. In the third, they made 10-of-15 free throws, including two by Destiny Alston that put the road team up by 27, 73-46. Garden City did make a push to get back into the game, closing the period on a 14-5 run. But Seward reestablished command in the fourth, answering with a 15-4 spurt, growing their lead to as many as 32 in the final minute.

Tianna Johnson scored 14 points in 22 minutes for Seward, who responded after watching their 63-game home-court winning streak go out the window on Saturday vs. Hutch. They also won their 90^th straight game when leading going into the fourth quarter.

Ross finished 18 points on an efficient 7-of-13 for Garden City, who currently sits in last place in the Jayhawk West. Alyssa Boyce scored 14, Ariyanna Hall added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Donetria McGee scored 12.

Next up: Garden City at Hutchinson-Saturday, Feb. 8-1:45 p.m. pregame; 2 p.m. first pitch on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app