Third-quarter surge lifts Seneca to TCC ‘W’ over Putnam County

SENECA — It wasn’t necessarily an unusual scene that would normally follow a senior night high school basketball game. Players holding balloons and gifts while taking photos with parents, coaches and teammates in between hugs and laughs.

However, with the challenges the athletes of the Class of 2021 have had to deal with, the aftermath of Monday night’s final home game for the Seneca girls basketball squad — a 49-33, Tri-County Conference victory over Putnam County — just felt and looked a little more special.

Prior to the contest, Lady Irish senior hoopsters Brooklyn Giertz, Addie Olson, Brooke Roseland, Madi Bromberek, Kloey Lind, Ella Gilbertson and Marie Cheshareck were all honored.

“I think all of the seniors just wanted to finish things off giving it our all and leaving everything on the floor, because this is the last chance we get here at home. ... I’m so glad we were able to play this year. It hasn’t been normal or perfect, but we at least we were able to play.”

—  Seneca senior point guard Brooklyn Giertz

“I think all of the seniors just wanted to finish things off giving it our all and leaving everything on the floor, because this is the last chance we get here at home,” said Giertz, the Lady Irish point guard posting 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and six steals to help her team improve to 10-1 overall , 7-1 in the league. “I felt we really came out in the second half with all of our energy, and it’s a nice feeling to know the seven seniors on this team will always be able to talk about winning on our senior night.

“I’m so glad we were able to play this year. It hasn’t been normal or perfect, but we at least we were able to play.”

Seneca ran to a 16-7, first-quarter lead behind eight points from Bromberek [game-high 16 points, 14 rebounds] and six from Giertz. The hosts extended things to 21-9 with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left in the second before the Lady Panthers closed out the half on an 8-1 run with Ava Hatton netting a pair of free throws and a 15-foot jumper, and Sophia Harris swishing four straight from the charity stripe to make it 22-17 in favor of Seneca.

“Senior nights are emotional. We had some different rotations to start things off, and we struggled in the first half. I thought we played a really good second half, especially in the third quarter and were able to open up a little bit of a lead,” said Seneca coach Ted O’Boyle.

“It starts with No. 10 [Giertz]. She been the catalyst for this team for three seasons. She does so many things for this team that may not show up in any scorebook or stat sheet. It’s also been a heck of a career for all these seniors, and I’m glad they were able to play this season.

“They’ve been everything a coach could ask for and more.”

Seneca opened the second half scoring the first five points. Then after a short jumper and 3-pointer by Harris, the Lady Irish went on an 11-0 burst — staring with a rebound hoop from Bromberek at the 4:15 mark and finishing with a lay-in by Emma Smith just before the horn off an assist from Olson to make it 38-22.

Giertz then scored eight of the game’s next 12 points to extend the margin to 47-25 with just under six minutes to play.

Harris paced PC [3-7, 1-6] with 11 points. Hatton finished with 10, and Chloe Linton posted eight points and a team-best six rebounds.

“[Seneca] really didn’t do anything different in the third quarter ... they are going to go where they go to and do what they do,” said Putnam County coach Jared Sale. “I thought we did a pretty good job in the opening half negating and handling their pressure. It was neck-and-neck in the first half, we were doing the right things, like ball fakes and smart passes. We were feeling pretty good with where we were at.

“Then our effort was not very good in the second half, and we didn’t do the right things. Three minutes in the third a couple things didn’t go our way, Seneca made it a 10-point game, and we just packed it up and called it a night. That is something that can’t happen. It was almost like the girls were thinking to themselves, ‘Oh no, 10 points, that’s too many to come back from,’ which wasn’t the case with 13 minutes still left to go and the fact we had already done it once tonight.”

Both clubs are back in action Wednesday — Seneca at Henry-Senachwine, Putnam County at Hall.