Beaver boys pull away from Ulysses; Lady Tigers win big

Ulysses, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–With the regular season winding down, two longtime rivals met up Friday night at Ulysses High School, as the Tigers played host to Scott City. In their second to last games of the season, Ulysses would win the girls game of the doubleheader 60-27, while the Beaver boys would pull away in the final eight minutes for a 76-49 win.

Early on it looked as though Scott City would have their fourth straight good start to a game. After leading 2-0, Ulysses would score the next 14 points and took a 17-5 lead after the opening quarter. The Lady Tigers would put the game away in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Beavers with a 17-7 run to take a 34-12 halftime lead. As it has been all season, Scott City (3-16, 0-9 GWAC) had turnover issues that helped Ulysses (5-14, 4-5) pull away. The Lady Tigers scored the first points of the final period to take a 54-23 lead, forcing a running clock for the remainder of the game. Leading the way for Ulysses was Jessi Arnold with 18, Carolina Gallegos with 17, and Kali Kenny with 10. Scott City got a season-high 11 from Kaitlyn Roberts.

Shelby Crawford Postgame

In similar fashion to the first game, the boys game was tight early on, before Scott City pulled away. The Beavers took a 17-13 lead after one. Ulysses (6-13, 3-6 GWAC) made a run to take a 22-18 lead early in the second quarter, only to see Scott City (18-1, 8-1) retake the lead, and go on a 15-0 run to make it 33-22 late in the second quarter. The Tigers pulled to within 33-25 at intermission. In the second half, Scott City would keep their distance from Ulysses, as the Tigers could get no closer than eight in the third period, and take a 50-38 lead after three quarters. The Beavers would pull away in the fourth quarter with a 26-11 run to win their 11th straight over the Tigers. Leading the charge for Scott City was Trey O’Neil with a game-high 27 points, while Brett Meyer had 16 and Sloan Baker pitched in 13. Ulysses was led by Tregg Rodriguez with 14 points and Jason Borthwick with 12. With the win and a Beloit loss at home to Minneapolis, the Beavers clinched the No. 1 seed in the Beloit Sub-State.

Glenn O’Neil Postgame

Going into Tuesday, Scott City’s girls are sitting in the eight spot, as Ellsworth won on Friday night, and have a one-game lead on the Lady Beavers for the seventh seed. They would travel to Beloit on Monday, March 2 if Scott City were to lose on Tuesday. As for the Beaver boys, they clinched the top seed and will host Russell on Tuesday, March 3. Sub-State brackets will become official on Wednesday.

For Ulysses, they are looking at the Lady Tigers being the fourth seed in the Hays sub-state, and would play McPherson in the opening round, while the Tiger boys would be the fourth seed, and also face McPherson. 

Ulysses will host Colby on Friday, February 27, while Scott City wraps up the regular season at home against Goodland on Tuesday.