Scott City girls fall to Sterling
Sterling, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Scott City knew it would be a big task to take down Sterling. The Lady Beavers faced the No. 1 team in Class 3A in Sterling on Thursday night at the Ora Shields Activities Center at Sterling High School, in hopes of making it to Friday’s championship game. It would be tight for most of the first half, until foul trouble for Scott City aided the Lady Black Bears, as they advanced to the Sterling Invitational final with a 63-49 victory.
Both teams would exchange the lead four times and tie six times in the first half alone. Sterling took a 13-11 lead after the opening period, and were tied at 15 early in the second quarter. That’s when foul trouble crept in on Scott City, as the Lady Bears used a 10-2 run to open up a 25-17 lead with 2:56 left before the break. The margin stayed around eight, as Sterling took a 34-26 halftime lead.
To begin the second half, the Lady Black Bears opened things up with 11 straight to lead 45-26 with 5:37 left in the third frame. Scott City didn’t give up, using a 9-3 run to pull to within 48-35 at the 2:45 mark of the third quarter. Sterling led 52-38 heading into the fourth period, and pushed their lead to 63-42 with three minutes remaining, before the Lady Beavers scored the final seven points to make the final 63-49.
Sterling’s Kali Briar led the way with 22 points, while Makenna Linden had 14 points and Bennie Horsch added 11. They won their 25th straight game, advancing to the tournament final with hopes of winning their fifth championship in nine years of the girls tournament. Scott City was led by Brooke Strine, who recorded her second straight double-double with 14 points and 12 boards, and Amber Latta had three rebounds
Sterling has won both meetings in the series vs the Lady Beavers.
Scott City 11 15 9 14-49
Sterling 13 21 18 11-63
Scott City (6-5): Stevens 0 0-0 0; Rumford 1 1-2 3; Strine 3 8-9 14; Gentry 0 0-0 0; Latta 5 3-3 13; Sowers 0 0-0 0; Ford 2 0-0 5; Felker 0 3-4 3; Kough 0 0-0 0; Cupp 2 0-0 4; Cramer 0 0-0 0; Patton 2 2-2 7; Team: 15 17-20 49
Sterling (11-0): Rowland 1 0-0 2; Linden 0 0-0 0; Farney 2 0-0 4; Linden 5 4-5 14; Horsch 4 3-9 11; Richter 0 0-0 0; Ekart 0 0-2 0; Briar 8 0-0 22; Brownlee 0-0 0; Cornelious 0 0-0 0; Beagley 1 4-4 6; Gray 2 0-0 4; Team: 23 11-20 63
Three-Pointers: Scott City 2 (Ford 1, Patton 1), Sterling 6 (Briar 6); Rebounds: Scott City 25, Sterling 41; Turnovers: Scott City 21, Sterling 17; Fouls: Scott City 18, Sterling 19; Fouled Out: Scott City (Patton).
Coach Amy Felker Postgame
Scott City will take on Hugoton on Friday afternoon at 3 pm at Sterling College. The Lady Eagles were knocked off by Southeast of Saline 61-58 in overtime on Thursday. Hutchinson Trinity faces Lyons in the seventh place girls game, Smoky Valley takes on Kingman in the fifth place game, and Sterling will take on Southeast of Saline in the girls championship game on Friday.
On the boys side on Friday, Hutchinson Trinity takes on Lyons in the seventh place game, Scott City matches up against Smoky Valley in the fifth place game and Southeast of Saline matches up against Kingman in the third place game, all at 4:30 on Friday. The championship game features Hugoton and Sterling.
