An early Christmas gift; Scott City sweeps Colby

Colby, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–After a 10-day layoff between games, the Scott City Beavers opened league play Tuesday night at Colby in hopes of taking some confidence into the Christmas break. The Beavers left Colby High School with a pair of wins, as the Lady Beavers pulled away from a 22-22 tie at the break in a 54-42 win, while the Beaver boys blitzed Colby early on, en route to a 56-24 victory.

Girls
History hasn’t been too kind for Scott City against the Lady Eagles of Colby. The Lady Beavers finally broke a 28-game losing streak to Colby in February, and were looking to string together back to back wins against the Lady Eagles for the first time since 1995. Scott City started out well, up 8-2 early on, only to see Colby rally back. The Lady Beavers took a 14-11 first quarter lead, and saw the Lady Eagles go on an 11-5 run to see them hit their biggest lead of the half at three points on a pair of occasions. Their last lead was 22-19 with 1:16 remaining before half. Scott City (2-3, 1-0 GWAC) scored the final three points of the half to tie the game at 22 at the break. They would take the lead for good in the third quarter, as they outscored Colby (2-4, 0-2) 12-2 in the third frame to lead 34-24. The closest the Lady Eagles could get in the fourth quarter was eight, with the latest being at 38-30 at the 5:49 mark of the fourth frame. Scott City was 8-14 in the final period at the foul line, and got timely baskets from Emily Weathers, Nancy Wiebe and Kiana Yager down the stretch .

Kaitlyn Roberts led Lady Beavers with 12 points, while Emily Weathers added 11. Scott City finished 19-35 from the free throw line in a game that saw the teams combine for 50 fouls. Colby was led by Erin Krannawitter with nine points off the bench. The Lady Eagles were 18-34 at the foul line. Scott City has won in Colby against the Lady Eagles for the first time since 1995, when they defeated the Lady Eagles in the Orange & Black 71-52, and have one back to back games against them for the first time since 1995, when they also defeated them in league play at home 78-59. The Lady Beavers are 2-0 on the road for the first time since 2011.

Assistant Coach Jim Turner postgame
 

Boys
The last few games between Scott City and Colby have not been close. Scott City has dominated the last 15 games of the series going back to 2010, with the closest coming in February of 2016 in a 10-point Beaver win. Tuesday night’s game was reminiscent of how the series has gone recently, as Scott City jumped out scoring the games first 18 points, and led 20-3 after the first quarter. The Beavers saw the pace slow down and led 31-8 at the break. Colby (1-4, 0-2 GWAC) benched their starters in the third quarter after Scott City built a 38-12 lead with 4:38 remaining in the period. The Eagles rallied, scoring the quarters final eight points to make it 40-21 after three quarters. In the fourth, the Beavers flexed their muscles yet again, outscoring Colby 16-3, and forced a running clock. Scott City (4-1, 1-0) held the Eagles without a basket for the first 7:39 of the game, and forced a scoring drought of 5:31 in the fourth quarter, as they led from start to finish. Colby’s 24 points were a season low, as their previous season low was 29 against Norton in the semi-finals of the Topside Tipoff on December 9.

Three Beavers were in double figures, led by Bo Hess with 19 points, followed by Jordan Horn with 14 and Marshal Faurot’s 11. Scott City was 6-11 at the foul line, and committed 10 turnovers. Trey Miller led Colby with eight points off the bench. The Eagles turned the ball over 19 times, and were just 6-16 at the free throw line. Scott City has now won 16 straight vs Colby. The streak started in the same building as Tuesday night’s game in the consolation semi-finals of the Orange & Black Tournament in 2010. Also, the 24 points the Eagles scored were the fewest against Scott City since February 21, 2014, when Colby scored 26 points. Ironically, it was in the same building. 

Coach Brian Gentry postgame

Scott City will resume play after the Christmas break on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 with a road trip to Southwestern Heights, while Colby hosts Hugoton on Friday, January 6.