Holcomb boys, Scott City girls, ride hot shooting in victories

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–When both schools met up January 9, they ended up seeing a pair of lopsided games, with Scott City winning the girls game, while the Holcomb boys winning the boys game. Tuesday night’s meeting between the rivals was nothing different. In fact, the winning teams never trailed, as the Lady Beavers used hot shooting to take down Holcomb 63-45, while the Holcomb Boys used big first quarter runs to cruise to a 68-40 win over Scott City.

Girls
Other than an early tie at two, it was all Scott City. The Lady Beavers separated themselves with back to back three’s from Kaitlyn Roberts to lead early 8-2, and traded baskets for the final 4:23 of the first period, as Scott City led 18-13 after the first period of play. It would be the second quarter where the Beavers would shoot lights out. Not only did the Lady Beavers outscore Holcomb 21-7, they also shot 9-11 from the field to take a 39-20 halftime lead. Scott City used runs of seven and eight, or a 15-1 run over a four and a half minute stretch of the second quarter.

In the second half, the Lady Beavers would build their lead to as big as 22 on a pair of occasion. Holcomb (9-9, 2-6 GWAC) scored the first points of the second half on a Courtney Wren three pointer to pull to within 39-23. Scott City scored the next six points to push the lead to 45-23 just two minutes into the second half. They would hit a 22-point lead three times in the half, before Holcomb closed out the period on a 9-4 run to pull to within 53-36 after three quarters. Scott City (15-3, 7-1) scored nine of the first 13 fourth quarter points en route to the victory of 63-45.

Emily Weathers had a big bounceback game for Scott City, and led the way with 21 points, while Emily Smith added 11. The Lady Beavers were 3-6 at the foul line and finished with 11 turnovers. Eboni Sapien led Holcomb with 21 points. The Lady Longhorns had eight turnovers and were 12-16 at the free throw line. Scott City won the rebounding battle 25-19.

Scott City has now won five straight in the series and has swept Holcomb for a second straight year. The Longhorns still lead the series 29-22. The 63 points scored by the Lady Beavers were the most allowed by Holcomb this year. Scott City’s 15 wins are the most in a regular season since the 2008-09 win, and they tied their win total in league wins at seven for a second straight year. The Lady Beavers lead Ulysses by one game in the GWAC standings with two league games to play.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Boys
Holcomb used defense early on to put away Scott City. The Longhorns forced Scott City into five turnovers early on, and jumped out to an 18-2 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter. When the Beavers settled in, it was tough to play catch up. Holcomb used a 9-10 shooting performance in the first eight minutes to build a 25-9 lead after the first quarter, and led by as many as 26 points at 42-16 with 1:42 left before halftime. Scott City would put together a 6-0 run to pull to within 42-22, before the Longhorns closed out the half with four straight to lead 46-22 at the break.

In the second half, Scott City (9-9, 4-4 GWAC) started the half with an 8-2 run to pull to within 48-30 with 5:52 left in the third quarter. That would be the closest they got the rest of the night. Holcomb (17-1, 8-0) would go on a 15-5 run in the final 5:24 of the third quarter to push the lead to 63-35 after three periods. The Longhorns scored the first points of the fourth quarter to force a running clock with 5:52 remaining in the game, as both teams would end up scoring five fourth quarter points.

Holcomb had three players with double figures, led by Trey Gilbert with 20 points, followed by Kobe Dickson with 16 and Devin Mader added 10. The Longhorns were 10-11 at the free throw line and committed eight turnovers. Scott City got 13 points from Marshal Faurot and a career-high 10 from Joe Evans. The Beavers went just 2-2 at the foul line and had 15 turnovers. Holcomb won the rebounding battle 17-11.

Holcomb has won seven straight in the series, matching their longest winning streak since winning the first seven from 1987-1993. It was the third straight year they have swept the series. Scott City still leads the series 29-24. Holcomb has now scored 60 or more points in 11 of 12 games since the Christmas break. The 68 the Longhorns scored were the most surrendered by the Beavers this year. With the win, Holcomb wins the GWAC title outright for the second straight year, and have won 18 straight league games.

Assistant Coach Jordan Carter Postgame