Holcomb sweeps Scott City

Holcomb, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–When you get to the final stretch of the regular season, it can definitely be a grind. Tuesday night at Holcomb, the Longhorn boys and girls basketball teams earned a pair of wins at home against Scott City, as the girls of Holcomb won 42-24, while the Longhorn boys picked up a 59-42 win.

Girls
In the second and final meeting of the year, it was the Lady Longhorns of Holcomb giving Scott City a return of what happened to them in the first meeting. The Lady Beavers won the first meeting on January 12 49-36, and never trailed in the game. Tuesday night’s game saw the roles flipped, as the Lady Longhorns never trailed. Holcomb (8-10, 5-3 GWAC) never trailed, building a 16-6 lead after the first quarter. Jordan Jarnagin took control of the game, scoring 13 consecutive points for the Lady Longhorns in the first and second quarter, as they never allowed Scott City (5-12, 3-5) to get any closer than eight after they took a double digit lead. After the Lady Beavers pulled to within 20-10 with 1:16 remaining in the first half. Holcomb scored the final six points of the half to take a 26-10 halftime lead. The Lady Beavers were only able to get to within 12, using a 6-2 run, only to see the Lady Longhorns score six straight, and hold Scott City scoreless for a four and a half minute stretch. Holcomb’s biggest lead ended up stretching to 20 at 42-22, before the Lady Beavers scored the games final two points at the foul line. Leading the way for the Lady Longhorns was Jordan Jarnagin with 22 points, 19 coming in the first half. Scott City was led by Nicole Latta’s seven points. Holcomb was 13-15 from the foul line, while the Lady Beavers were 4-13.

Boys
Scott City and Holcomb were playing shorthanded Tuesday night. For the Beavers, leading scorer and rebounder Bo Hess was out of the lineup due to an ankle injury, and should return soon, while the Longhorns were missing senior Christian Merz, who’s out for the season with a broken hand suffered in the game at Lakin last Tuesday. Early on, both teams seemed to be dealing with two of their high scorers, as Holcomb raced out to an early 18-14 lead after the first quarter. It was an eight-minute stretch that saw two ties and three lead changes. The second eight minutes of play saw one team take over the game and put it on cruise control. After Scott City (12-5, 5-3 GWAC) pulled to within 21-19 with 5:54 left before halftime, the Longhorns shut down the Beaver offense, and scored the final 15 points of the half to take a 36-19 lead at the break. Holcomb (17-1, 7-1) did not commit a turnover for the first 19 minutes of the game. In the third and fourth quarters, the Beavers and Longhorns ended up playing mostly even basketball, as they each scored 23 second half points. Holcomb would lead by as many as 19, and Scott City could not get any closer than 14 points. The Beavers improved their intensity in the second half, which aided them in staying with the bigger Longhorn squad. Leading the Holcomb charge was Conner Van Cleave with 28 points, while Brandon Stegman added 11 and Trey Gilbert had 10. Scott City got 18 points from Dylan Hutchins and 10 from Drake McRae. The Beavers were 8-10 from the foul line, and only three of their nine turnovers came in the second half, while the Longhorns had six turnovers and shot 9-15 from the charity line. It was the first time since the 2008 season that Holcomb has swept Scott City in a season. 

Coach Glenn O’Neil Postgame

Scott City will return home for two more games this week, as they host Cimarron on Thursday in a makeup game from February 2, and host Ulysses for Senior Night on Friday. Holcomb hosts Goodland in their home finale on Friday.