Scott City girls pull away from Hugoton, Eagle boys win double overtime thriller

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Friday night was round two of the GWAC doubleheader that featured Scott City and Hugoton, this time at Scott Community High School. In recent years, the Eagles have had success in Scott City, sweeping the varsity games over the last three seasons. This time, it was a doubleheader split, as the Lady Beavers pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 70-40, while it took double overtime to decide the boys game, as Hugoton took a 79-78 thriller

Scott City Girls 70, Hugoton 40
Since the inception of the Great West Activities Conference, Scott City has never defeated Hugoton at home. Friday night proved to be different. The Lady Beavers trailed early 2-0, then used runs of seven, and 12 in the first half to build their lead. Scott City (10-5, 5-1 GWAC) led by as many as 18 at 30-12 with three minutes left in the first half, before a 7-2 run pulled the Lady Eagles to within 32-21 late in the opening half at 32-21. A late Scott City basket made it 34-21 at the break.

Hugoton (4-9, 1-4) made two surges in the second half. Their first came on a 9-1 run over a tw0-minute stretch of the third quarter to pull to within 39-31 with 3:43 left in the third period. The Lady Beavers responded with a 9-2 run, and eventually led 48-34 after three quarters. To open the fourth quarter, the Lady Eagles scored the first five points and got to within 48-39 with 6:39 left. After that, it was all Scott City. Over the final 6:11 of the game, the Lady Beavers put the dagger in with a 22-1 run to close the game, and pick up their first regular season sweep of the Lady Eagles in a 70-40 win.

Lyndi Rumford led Scott City with a career-high 23 points, while Amber Latta had a season-high 13 and Emily Weathers added 10 points. The Lady Beavers were 19-23 from the foul line and had 18 turnovers. Hugoton was led by McKenna Hamlin and Jordyn Beard with 13 points. They shot 8-16 at the free throw line and had 27 turnovers. Scott City won the rebounding battle 37-19.

It’s the first time that Scott City knocked off Hugoton at least two times in a season since 2011, when they won at Hugoton January 4 and two weeks later at the Orange & Black in Colby. It was also the first home win against the Lady Eagles since March 1, 1998, when they won a sub-state opener 49-45. Hugoton leads the series 21-10 since 1989. It’s the most points the Lady Beavers have scored against the Lady Eagles since 1992 in a 74-72 loss, and the first time they’ve hit the 70-point mark since a 70-48 win over Kingman on March 3, 2009. Coach Sarah McCormick became the first head coach to hit 50 wins in Scott City since Jim Turner, and is the fourth coach to accomplish that feat in program history.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Hugoton Boys 79, Scott City 78, 2 OT
It took 11 ties and 13 lead changes to decide the boys game. Scott City took a 15-11 lead with 1:55 remaining in the first quarter, only to see the Eagles score the next 14 points over a three-minute stretch to lead 25-15 with 6:35 left in the second period. The Beavers would slowly chip in to the lead, highlighted by a 5-0 run late in the first half to get to within 36-35 with 31 seconds remaining in the period. With an opportunity to retake the lead late in the half, a turnover would turn in to a pair of Eagle free throws, giving Hugoton the 38-35 lead at the break.

Scott City (10-5, 4-2 GWAC) would open the half with the first six points, and lead 41-38 in the first minute of the second half. It would be the Eagles would use a 9-3 run over a three minutes stretch the retake the lead at 47-44 midway through the third frame. The Beavers hit a three with 10 seconds left in the period to go ahead again at 56-54, only to see Carlos Montiel hit a deep three at the end of the third quarter to give Hugoton (9-4, 5-0) the 57-56 lead going into the fourth quarter. In the final period, the scoring slowed down, and Hugoton would maintain control throughout most of the quarter. A 5-0 run put the Eagles up 64-59 with 3:08 left, and it looked like they would come up with the win. Scott City had a different plan. Trailing by two late in the game, Parker Vulgamore’s putback with 10 seconds left tied the game at 65, giving Hugoton a chance to win. The Eagles would dribble the ball off their foot out of bounds, giving the Beavers the opportunity to win. A missed layup by Scott City sent the game to overtime.

Things looked good for Hugoton in the early part of the first overtime. Two of Scott City’s starters, Marshall Faurot and Vulgamore, fouled out within 15 seconds of each other, and the Eagles would go up 70-65 with 2:25 left in the extra session. A pair of free throws and a Hunter Yager three pointer tied the game at 70 with 1:27 left in overtime. It would stay that way for the rest of the first overtime, as both teams missed opportunities for the win.

Yager would hit one out of two free throws to give the Beavers a 71-70 lead with 2:55 left in the second overtime, their first lead since late in the third quarter. Scott City was unable to expand on their lead. With 1:57 left in the second overtime, Jayce Korf hit a three pointer in the right corner to give Hugoton the lead back at 73-71. That led to a 9-4 run, as they never trailed the rest of the way. A last second three by Yager pulled Scott City to within one at the end in 79-78 double overtime thriller in favor of the Eagles.

Damian Lewis led Hugoton with 21 points, while Carlos Montiel put in 18 points and Michael Mirabal added 16. The Eagles were 14-22 at the line, and finished with 19 turnovers. Scott City was led by Hunter Yager’s career-high 25 points, while Marshall Faurot added 20. The Beavers ended up 17-23 from the charity line, and committed 21 turnovers.

With the win, Hugoton has swept Scott City in the regular season for the second straight year, and has won four straight in Scott City and in the series. It’s their longest win streak in the series in recent history over the Beavers. It’s the most points the Eagles have scored in the series since 1996, in their 81-65 win over the Beavers. The overtime game was the second time in the last three years between the two teams. Scott City won the last overtime game 61-60 two seasons ago in Hugoton. The Beavers 78 points in a loss there the most in a loss since December of 2002, when they fell to TMP-Marian in the Scott City Invitational Tournament Championship game 85-81.

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

Scott City will step out of league play one final time in the regular season on Tuesday, when they host Southwestern Heights. Hugoton continues their road swing in February with a trip to Garden City in non-league play on Tuesday.