Lady Spartans fall in Class C final

Florida - March Madness is over - at least as far as the Seward Lady Spartans are concerned. At SUNY New Paltz last Sunday afternoon, Millbrook, last year’s Class C champions, simply overwhelmed Florida, 54-24, to retain their title. The Lady Spartans made it to the final with a 46-29 win against Tuxedo last Wednesday at SUNY Orange in Middletown. The game against Millbrook was a defensive battle for the first two quarters as the Spartans only trailed 21-14 at the half. The score would be even closer except for a rash of Florida turnovers. The Millbrook pressure defense began to take its toll in the third quarter as Florida was held to four points and trailed 36-18. It was more of the same in the final stanza as Millbrook’s shots were on the money while the Spartans had to work hard for open shots which were few and far between. The Spartans simply did not play their “A” game, but most of the credit for that goes to Millbrook. They actually dominated in all phases of the game. Melissa Oliphant led Florida in scoring with nine points. Selin Tekin had eight, and Kathleen Folk kicked in with five. Folkl and Tekin gathered in 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively. At one point Lady Spartan coach Joe DiMattina had his lineup of the future in action: Sophomores Folkl, Courtney Howell, Brooke Burnside, junior Patti Collins and freshman Vivien Greiser. The first half of the semi-final game at OCCC last Wednesday against Tuxedo was a lesson in futility for both teams, especially at the foul line. Florida was 3-14; Tuxedo was 3-11. That helped to hold down the score at half-time to 18-17 in favor of the Tornados. The good news was that as poorly as things were going Florida was only down by a single point. Things improved for the Spartans in the third quarter. With Folkl, Tekin and Howell being stymied underneath, Flores, Oliphant, Kylie Burnside and Greiser put pressure on Tuxedo from outside. Greiser’s three-pointer put Florida up 21-18 and Flores’ steal and layup widened the gap to 23-18. That third quarter would end with the Spartans in front 27-23. The Spartan defense and bench strength took its toll on Tuxedo in the final stanza. While Tuxedo sat on 26 points, field goals by Folkl, Flores, Tekin and Greiser pushed the Spartan lead to 38-26 with three minutes left. Flores had a game-high 13 points for Florida. Oliphant hit for 11, and freshman Greiser added nine, all in the second half. Perhaps last year’s Class D Section 9 champion Lady Spartans found the climb to Class D a little too steep. That experience should pay off, however, as they move back down to Class D with an eager group of returning players.