Seward Lady Spartans nip Warwick, 42-39

Florida - It didn’t start well or the Lady Spartans, but the finish was just fine as Florida prevailed, 42-39. In the non-league game against visiting Warwick last Wednesday, Florida trailed 10-5 after the first quarter. After that shaky start the Spartans were able to cut that lead by half-time to a single digit, 18-17. Then, led by sophomore center Kathleen Folkl’s seven points in the third quarter, Florida pulled ahead 30-23. Folkl who saw spot duty last year as a freshman has improved her touch underneath and is more aggressive crashing the boards. In the fourth quarter, however, Florida went cold, not scoring until Selin Tekin hit from inside with almost four minutes gone in the final stanza. That put Florida back up 32-26, but the Wildcats kept clawing. It took some late heroics for the Spartans to clinch this one. With 1:25 left Angela Flores intercepted a pass, drove the length of the floor and hit a driving layup: 38-33 Florida. After Warwick pulled to within one, 38-37, Seward’s Kylie Burnside’s foul shot and three out of four from the line by Melissa Oliphant finally caged the Wildcats. Kara Clarks’s three-point attempt to tie at the buzzer was just a little short. Folkl had a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Tekin was steady with eight and Flores and Burnside notched five apiece. For Warwick Alexa Lex hit double figures with 11 and Clark had eight. Florida moves to 2-1 with a team made up of six seniors, four juniors and two sophomores. Oddly those two sophomores supply most of the height. If starting center Folkl runs into foul trouble or needs a break, promising sophomore Courtney Howell comes off the bench. Senior Selin Tekin also provides strength underneath, while fellow seniors Oliphant, Burnside and Flores comprise a trio of ball-handlers and outside shooters who also play tough defense. Senior Casey Heller should also see quite a bit of playing time along with Janice and Jillian Harter, Larissa Brodman, Patti Collins and Jessica Pawelczak. Coach Glenn Kleveno’s Lady Spartan JV’s also took the measure of Warwick by a score of 37-25. Vivien Greiser scored 16 points for Florida.