Lady Spartans win three in a row

Florida - The Seward Lady Spartans upped their overall record to 5-3 with convincing wins over Livingston Manor, 46-34, over Chester, 46-21, and Tri-Valley, 51-37. At home last Monday in the non-league game against the Manor, the Spartans got off to a sluggish start, only scoring three points in the first quarter to fall behind 12-2. Melissa Oliphant added a spark off the bench in the second quarter, and they rallied to trail by only one, 20-19, at half-time. Sophomore Kathleen Folkl asserted herself more forcefully in the critical third quarter scoring six points and working hard on the boards. And away from the basket diminutive Angela Flores controlled the ball, caused Livingston Manor turnovers and made some excellent passes. Florida took the lead 33-28 at the end of the third quarter and won going away, 46-34. Folkl had a game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. Oliphant finished with a hard-earned 11 and Selin Tekin had nine. Flores chipped in with seven. On Wednesday, also at home, the Lady Spartans hosted the Chester Academy in the Division V opener. Florida fared a little better in the opening quarter taking a 10-7 lead. They tallied 10 more in the second to lead 20-9 at half-time. In the second half Seward’s Kylie Burnside swished three 3-pointers (she had one in the first half) to pace coach Joe DiMattina’s team to an eventual 46-21 win. Folkl scored seven in the fourth quarter to finish with 15 points. Burnside ended with an even dozen, and Tekin and Oliphant notched six apiece. On Friday the 13th the Lady Spartans traveled to Tri-Valley for another Division V encounter. This one was closer until Florida broke it open in the fourth quarter to win 51-37. Spartan coach Joe DiMattina was unhappy with his team’s defense in the first half. Some gentle persuasion must have had good results as the host team was held to six points in the last quarter. At the same time Folkl and Burnside were each scoring seven final-quarter points to put the game away. Folkl ended up with a team-high 16 points and Oliphant and Burnside notched 12 apiece. Angela Flores contributed eight as the 6-3 Lady Spartans capped off a perfect 3-0 week.