The streak stops here

by Chance Plett
Sports editor

see photos

Colby couldn't do it despite taking Seward County to overtime. Cloud couldn't do it even though they led for all but about 90 seconds of the game.

On Feb. 28, Hutchinson did what Colby, Cloud, and 133 teams before them couldn't do: they defeated the Lady Saints at the Green House, ending the second-longest home-court win streak in college basketball history regardless of divisions or gender.

Hutchinson, statistically the best defensive team in the nation, held the Lady Saints nearly 30 points below their average in a 64-50 Lady Dragons victory.

Seward shot a season-low 26 percent from the field, including a five for 26 effort from three-point range.

Hutchinson further tightened the clamps on Lady Saints leading scorer Stephanie Thiel. Thiel hit just one of her 12 three-point attempts and finished with five points.

Thiel was hardly the only Lady Saint to struggle from the field, though.

Jerise Freeman missed all six of her field goal attempts. Devry McDonald, the Lady Saints second leading scorer, hit just two of her 11 shots. Margaret DeCiman, who scored 27 points in the win over Colby, missed six of her seven field goal attempts.

Seward County head coach Jim Littell said there is a reason Hutchinson plays such strong defense.

"Hutch concentrates on it in practice," Littell said. "They are very physical. Hutch is playing as well as anyone in the state."

Seward's 50 points tied a season low in an ironic way. On Jan. 24, Hutchinson held the Lady Saints to 50 points but scored only 47 themselves own in a 50-47 SCCC win.

After a slow first half for both teams, Hutchinson had little trouble scoring in the second half.

The game was knotted up 25-25 at intermission, but the second half belonged to Natalie Purcell, Lilly Hernandez, and the rest of the Lady Dragons. Purcell and Hernandez each recorded double-doubles.

Hernandez hit nine of 10 free throws, scored 18 points, and pulled down 12 rebounds.

Purcell shot seven of 16 from the floor, scored 16 points, and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

As the final seconds wound off the clock, the near-capacity crowd at the Green House, rose to its feet with a thunderous applause for the Lady Saints.

The hundreds in attendance realized they had just witnessed the end of an incredible streak, a string of victories that took nearly a decade to piece together.

The 135-game home-court winning streak spanned more than nine full years, included eight Jayhawk West MVPs, seven All-Americans, and one national championship.

Sophomore Ania Grabias, playing on sophomore recognition night, was one of the few brights spots in the game for the Lady Saints, but she was visibly shaken after the loss.

Grabias said the feeling after the game wasn't a pleasant one.

"I was so upset after the loss," Grabias said. "I felt just horrible."

Grabias made six of her 11 shots and finished with a team-best 14 points in addition to eight rebounds.

Littell looked almost sick to his stomach in the moments following the game but he didn't mince words when he addressed his team in the locker room after the game.

"I told them we got what we deserved for a sorry week of practice," Littell said.

Littell said that in some ways it felt as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, but that it was not a pressure he wanted to be relieved of.

"I'm a competitor," Littell said. "I wanted the streak to go on."

While Lady Saints fans and much of the community mourn the loss, Littell said that was not the case elsewhere.

"(Hutchinson head coach Nathan) Duame gave me congratulations and told me that we played well," Littell said. "Hutch handled it with dignity, but there are many people around the state who are really celebrating our loss."

Lori Drake, one of four sophomores for the Lady Saints, was another bright spot for Seward with 11 points and eight rebounds. Drake said that despite many people taking the loss hard, the Lady Saints have stayed upbeat.

"Everybody has been positive about it," Drake said. "We got together as a team, no coaches, just us, and we promised ourselves we would pull together and pick up our game."

So far, Seward has done just that. In their lone game since the streak-busting loss, the Lady Saints put a 96-44 beating to Neosho in the first round of the Region VI tournament March 2 at the Green House.

The Lady Saints next game is Saturday against Pratt in the quarterfinals of the Region VI tournament. If Seward were to prevail, they would advance to the semi-finals to face the winner of the Cloud County - Independence contest.