As the SCCC Saints started the season with high energy, they fell short to carry it with them as they went against the Hutchinson Blue Dragons on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Greenhouse. Throughout the whole game, the building was highly intense.

In the first half, the Saints kept a tough lead but the Blue Dragons kept cutting it short. Both teams battled each other for the lead but the Saints kept it. In the beginning, everything seemed to fall in the basket for the Saints. Whenever a Saint would shoot a jump shot or a three, it would easily swoosh through the hoop. The highlights of the first half were definitely the dunks the Saints had to offer for the crowd and the outstanding defense they held. Although the Blue Dragons tried to take the lead, they fell short and the Saints took the first half with the score of 35-29.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Angel Meza

Freshman Mohamed Selmi attempts to win the jump ball to start off the game.

For the second half, the Saints, for some reason, started off by struggling to keep the lead. They started to let the Blue Dragons shoot more often. The Blue Dragons began to shoot more three’s and eventually took the lead away from the Saints. Once they started to get momentum rolling, the Saints started to shut down. Seward seemed to lose energy as the Blue Dragons increased their lead to double digits. Towards the end, the Saints tried to come back but it was too late, which lead the final score to be 76-69.

Even though the Saints fought a tough battle, they kept the game very close to a team that is ranked 1 in the nation. The player of the night was Devin Bethely finishing with 21 points, five assists and four rebounds.

The Saints will compete on Wednesday, Nov. 15, against Butler Community College held at the Greenhouse at 8 p.m. following the Lady Saints game at 6 p.m.