February 24, 2005
SECOND PLACE SEWARD COUNTY LOSES AT CLOUD COUNTY
Seward County freshman Adam Tanner has been the post presence the Saints have leaned on all season long. Wednesday night, they had to play 34 minutes without their leading big man as SCCC lost at Cloud County 87-68 in a Jayhawk West second place vs. third place match-up. The Saints remain in second place above Cloud County with a 9-5 conference record and Cloud will sit one game back with an 8-6 West record.
Just after the Saints and Thunderbirds tipped it off, with the Saints leading 12-9, Tanner rolled his ankle and that would determine the outcome of the game. Saints Head Athletic Trainer Thad DeWeese tapped Tanner's ankle in hopes of a return shortly after the injury occurred, but once Tanner tested it out in the game the pain was too overwhelming for Tanner and the Saints had to play the rest of the game without him in the line-up.
The Saints (20-8, 9-5 in the Jayhawk West) loss (19 points) is the largest margin of defeat this season. The T-Birds (15-12, 9-5 in the Jayhawk West) had their way with the Saints in the paint as they out rebounded Seward County 47-26, including 19-9 in the offensive rebounding category. Saints sophomore Brian McCarther led the team with five rebounds, followed by freshman Preston Sims, freshman point guard Jerrell Green, sophomore point guard Kyle Smith and sophomore shooting guard Keoni Watson who all chipped in two rebounds a piece.
This season the Saints have shot .333 % from three-point range (151-for-453), but last night were limited to 2-of-14 from down-town. The Thunderbirds didn't let many opportunities slide by as they nailed 26-of-33 free throws (.788 %).
Watson, the Saints leading scorer this season (18.0 points per game), was named National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Week (2/22) on Tuesday. Watson had a game high 23 points and added four steals against Cloud County. The only other Saint to score in double figures was McCarther, scoring 13 points.
With a week to prepare for Hutchinson Community College (16-9, 6-7) Head Coach Dave Brown will look to get his team back on track and for Tanner to get healthy for next week's trip to the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The Saints and Blue Dragons will tip it off at 8:00 p.m. March 2, in Hutchinson. You can listen to the game called live by KSCB Sports Anchor, Brock Kappelmann, by listening to 107 KSCB or by going to www.kscb.net and clicking on KSCB Listen Live.
BOX SCORE at. Cloud County Community College
