Beaver boys and girls end Southwest Classic with wins

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–After rough starts on Thursday, the Scott City Beaver basketball teams showed improvement each night at the Southwest Classic. Saturday night at Scott Community High School, both the boys and girls teams notched wins over Denver South, as the girls pick up their first win with a 54-39 win, while the boys defeated the Rebels 68-58.

The Lady Beavers got off to a slow start for a third straight game. Unlike the first two nights, they were able to fight back. Trailing 13-10 after the first quarter, Scott City rattled off nine straight points in the first two minutes of the second period, and never trailed again. They would maintain that six-point margin at halftime with a 25-19 lead. In the final three quarters, the Lady Beavers extended their lead in each quarter, as they led 40-31 heading into the final period. A 6-0 run would virtually put the game away, as Scott City (1-0) eventually built their lead up to 18 points at 54-36 with 1:19 left. Denver South scored the final three points of the game, as the Lady Beavers picked up their first win under coach Shelby Crawford. Senior Bailey Nickel had another career-best, pouring in 34 points, with 20 coming in the first half. Riley Hawker also had a career-high with 10 points. Denver South (0-6) was led by Naudia Sweets with 18 points, and Davi Albury with 10.

The nightcap saw a game where nine lead changes took place in the first 10 minutes of the game. Denver South led 13-12 after the first quarter, and after trailing 15-14, Scott City scored seven unanswered to take a 21-15 lead, and would never trail the rest of the way. They would push their lead up to 30-20 late in the first half, before the Rebels picked up one basket before half and trailed Scott City 30-22 at the break. Just like the first quarter, Denver South would outscore the Beavers 13-12 in the third quarter make it 42-35 heading into the final eight minutes. Scott City (2-1) scored seven straight to build up their biggest lead at 14, in which they hit that margin five times in the final period, and picked up a nice win 68-58. The Beavers had three in double figures, led by junior Trey O’Neil with a career-high 29 points, 12 coming in the final quarter, while Brett Meyer had a career-best 17 points and Brayden Strine also had a career-high, finishing with 12 points. Denver South (2-5) was paced by Tyson Purifoy with 22 points and Ibrahim Sylla with 13.

Up next for Scott City is a GWAC doubleheader Friday night at Ulysses to wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule.