Beavers sweep Sterling Invitational openers
Sterling, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Scott City entered Monday’s tournament openers in Sterling with one goal on their mind: win and come back Thursday. While both teams would come out victorious Monday, it would be a two different routes. The Lady Beavers saw a nine-point lead evaporate late in the fourth quarter, but found a way to win in a 65-61 overtime victory against Kingman, while the boys would turn the jets on in the second quarter and never look back in a 69-31 victory over Lyons.
Scott City Girls 65, Kingman 61 OT
Scott City led this one for a vast majority of the day, and could never put the Lady Eagles away. The Lady Beavers had an 8-0 run early in the first quarter, and led 12-4 late in the first period, only to see Kingman use runs of 6-0 and 7-0 to lead 17-16 with 3:31 left before halftime. Scott City found a way to gain momentum, closing out the final three minutes of the half on an 8-3 run to lead 24-20 at the break. They scored the first four points of the second half, and led 32-24 with 5:32 left in the third period, before a 9-3 run pulled Kingman (3-8) to within 35-33 with 2:47 remaining in the quarter. The Lady Beavers took a 39-35 lead into the fourth quarter. When it looked like Scott City (5-5) would pull away, the Lady Eagles had different plans. The Lady Beavers led 54-45 with 2:56 left, before a furious run by Kingman would force overtime. They used a 10-1 run over the final 2:50 of regulation to tie the game at 55, thanks to back-to-back three’s in the final 1:12 of regulation. Scott City missed four straight free throws down the stretch. In the extra session, Kingman had leads of 56-55 and their last was 58-57 with 2:52 left. The Lady Beavers took the lead back with 2:30 in overtime at 59-58, and hit 8-10 free throws in the extra session. Both teams had just one field goal in overtime. Scott City would come out on top 65-61.
Leading the way for Scott City was Erika Felker, who had a career-high 27 points, and set a tournament record with 20 free throws made. The old record was 15, set by Hayley Hughes of Hutchinson Trinity in 2021. Felker also scored the seventh most points in a single tournament game with 27. This is according to the sterlinginvitational.com site. Brooke Strine Finished with 12 points and Avery Lewis added a career-high 11 points. The Lady Beavers played a majority of the second half with significant foul trouble, but didn’t have a player foul out. Kingman was led by Morgan Freund with 22 points, while Marissa DeWeese added 10. They had two players foul out.
With the win, Scott City will finish no worse than fourth place in the Sterling Invitational for the third consecutive year. They improved to 2-0 all-time against Kingman. It was the first meeting since 2009, when the Lady Beavers won 70-48 at home to open up Class 4A Sub-State play. The 65 points were a season-high for Scott City. It was also their first overtime win since 2020, when they defeated Goodland to win the sub-state tournament in Cimarron.
Kingman 6 14 15 20 6–61
Scott City 12 12 15 16 10–65
Kingman: Bell 0 0-0 0; Albright 3 2-2 8; DeWeese 4 2-3 10; Munz 1 3-5 5; Freund 9 3-6 22; Meng 0 0-0 0; Pearce 2 0-0 6; Graber 0 4-6 4; Zeller 2 0-0 6; Team: 21 14-22 61
Scott City: Stevens 1 0-0 2; Kentry 1 1-4 3; Strine 6 2-7 14; Felker 3 20-23 27; Metzger 0 0-0 0; Lewis 4 3-4 11; Cramer 3 0-2 6; Trout 1 0-0 2; Team: 19 26-40 65
Three-Pointers: Kingman 5 (Pearce 2, Zoeller 2, Freund 1), Scott City 1 (Felker 1); Rebounds: Kingman 24, Scott City 25; Turnovers: Kingman 14, Scott City 20; Fouls: Kingman 26, Scott City 20; Fouled Out: Kingman (DeWeese, Munz).
Scott City Boys 69, Lyons 31
Lyons had two early leads. After that, it was all Scott City. The Beavers would build a good lead in the first period, but only led 18-14 after the first quarter. It was the second quarter that turned the tied for Scott City (6-4). A 21-8 second eight minutes of play pushed the lead to 39-22 at the break. From there, it was on cruise control. The Lions were only able to score nine points in the second half, as the Beavers went on a 13-4 run in the third quarter to lead 52-26 heading into the final quarter. Lyons (4-6) did not score for the final 6:34 of the game, as Scott City closed out the game with the final 14 points, en route to the 69-31 win.
Jackson Rumford had his fourth 20-point game of the year, as he finished with a game-high 22 points, while Lawson Bailey tied a career-high with 18 points, which ironically, he set against Lyons last year. Dylan Metzger added 11 points. Lyons was led by Sam Schmidt and Taylor Campbell with eight points apiece.
Scott City won their first Sterling Invitational Tournament opener, and their first midseason tournament-opening win since 2019. The Beavers improved to 4-0 against Lyons since 1979. The 69 points were a season-high for Scott City were the most scored since they had 76 points against Ulysses in 2020.
Scott City 18 21 13 17–69
Lyons 14 8 4 5–31
Scott City: Duff 0 0-0 0; Metzger 4 1-2 11; Noll 1 2-2 4; Tarango 2 2-2 6; Vulgamore 0 0-0 0; Bro. Bailey 0 2-2 2; Rumford 7 8-8 22; Ruelas 2 0-0 6; L. Bailey 7 0-0 18; Vance 0 0-2 0; Bry. Bailey 0 0-0 0; Stoecklein 0 0-0 0; Team: 23 15-18 69
Lyons: Luck 0 1-2 1; Schmidt 3 0-0 8; Campbell 3 1-2 8; Rodriguez 1 0-0 2; Stanley 0 0-0 0; Showalter 2 0-2 5; Soto 2 0-2 5; Solis 0 0-0 0; Gish 0 0-0 0; Ventura 0 0-0 0; Starbuck 1 0-0 2; Cereceres 0 0-1 0; Team: 12 2-9 31
Three-Pointers: Scott City 8 (L. Bailey 4, Metzger 2, Ruelas 2), Lyons 5 (Schmidt 2, Campbell 1, Showalter 1, Soto 1); Rebounds: Scott City 21, Lyons 16; Turnovers: Scott City 9, Lyons 23; Fouls: Scott City 16, Lyons 13; Fouled Out: None.
Coach Brian Gentry Postgame
Both the boys and girls for Scott City will return to Sterling on Thursday and Friday. The Lady Beavers will face Lyons in the championship semi-finals at 4:30 pm. Lyons held off Hutch Trinity 53-42. The boys will take on Southeast of Saline in the championship semi-finals at 5:30 pm.The Trojans pulled away from Smoky Valley to win 63-38 in their second meeting of the year.
