Allen County men and women’s struggles continued on Saturday when both teams dropped home games versus Seward County.
Both teams drop to 6-19 and 4-17 in Jayhawk Conference play. The loss is the fifth-straight for the Lady Devils and the ninth-straight for the Allen County men.
The Allen County women fell to the No. 7 Lady Saints 86-46.
The Lady Devils took a quick 6-3 lead to start the game before Seward went on a 12-0 run to take a lead they’d never relinquish. They closed the quarter on an 8-0 run for a 24-10 lead.
After a sloppy start to the second quarter for both teams, the Lady Saints extended their lead further with a 10-0 run midway through the quarter. Allen cut the lead to within 20 but Seward went into the half on a 9-1 run, pushing their lead to 48-20.
Allen started off the half strong though with a 6-1 run but the Lady Saints dialed in once again and got their lead to 30 thanks to a 9-0 run. Allen trailed 65-31 going into the fourth quarter.
Seward pushed their lead to 40 in the fourth quarter and held on to that until the end of the game.
The Lady Devils turned the ball over 29 times and shot just 30.8 percent compared to 42.3 percent for Seward.
Freshman Jakira Wilson was the only Lady Devil in double-figures with 15 points.
THE ALLEN County men kept it much closer but still ended up falling 77-65.
The Red Devils had a rough start as Seward opened with a 9-0 run. Allen County battled back throughout the game but never overcame that initial run.
The Saints pushed the lead to as much as 15 in the first half but the Red Devils were able to cut the lead down to eight, 36-28, at halftime.
With four minutes into the second half, Allen County cut the Saints’ lead down to just four points. Soon after, a 5-2 run from Allen County got within a point, 48-47, before Seward pushed back with a 5-0 run.
Allen County fired right back with a 5-0 run to get within one but just like before Seward pushed right back, this time scoring six unanswered, to push their lead to seven. Seward continued to push, getting their lead to double-digits for the first time since the first half with a minute left in the game.
The Red Devils did not have a final push in them as Seward successfully held them off as the seconds ticked down.
Individual scoring stats were unavailable for the men’s game.
Both teams will try to get the monkey off their back and make a final push when they host Independence on Wednesday. Both teams lost the matchups played at Independence.
PHOTO: Lady Devil sophomore guard Tamera Shaver dribbles down the court in Allen County’s game versus Barton on Feb. 3. REGISTER/TIMOTHY EVERSON
