Beavers pick up big wins in Colby

Colby, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–On semi-final Friday in Colby, the Scott City Beavers saw their teams come home with a pair of wins, both by double digits. For the girls, it was a win that snapped a five-game losing skid, as they double up Sunrise Christian 58-29, while the boys rallied from a six-point deficit early on to take care of McCook 65-42.

In the first girls consolation semi-final game of the day, Scott City was able to win their first-first quarter of the year, leading Sunrise Christian 12-8 after the first quarter. Despite being down a starter, Riley Hawker, due to sickness, the Lady Beavers were able to maintain a lead for a majority of the game. The Lady Buffaloes tried to keep up in the game, but a 7-0 spurt by Scott City, capped off by a Nicole Latte three-pointer at the end of the first half, game the Lady Beavers a 30-21 lead. Sunrise Christian (5-8) would end up going on an eight-minute drought in the second and third quarters. During that stretch, Scott City (2-7) stretched their lead to 27, and it would end up 48-23 after three quarters. The Lady Beavers scored the first six fourth quarter points, forcing a continuous clock the rest of the way. Leading the way for Scott City was senior Bailey Nickel with a game-high 28 points, including a 14-point second quarter performance. The Lady Buffaloes got 12 points from Ciara Johansen. In the victory Friday, Scott City snapped a seven-game slide in the Orange & Black, dating back to 2011, and will play in their first fifth place game since 2010.

McCook met up with the Scott City boys for the first time since the 2012 Orange & Black Championship game. The Bison started off hitting their first six shots of the game, but only led by as many as six points in the first quarter. Scott City responded by scoring seven out of the last nine points in the final 2:11 of the opening period to trail 16-15 after one. From there on out, the Beaver defense was solid, yielding just 26 points in the final 24 minutes of play, and used a 20-13 run in the second eight minutes to take a 35-29 lead into recess. From there, Scott City expanded their lead. The first half of the third quarter was a jump start of an 11-2 run to build up a 46-31 lead. Playing for the final shot of the period, Dylan Hutchins knocked down a three-pointer go give the Beavers a 52-35 lead, and to begin the fourth quarter scoring, Brett Meyer drained another three to make it a 20-point game. Scott City (8-1) built up their lead to as many as 24 points, before ending up with a 23-point victory, vaulting them into the Saturday night finals against Palmer Ridge, CO. Trey O’Neil finished with a game-high 29 points for the Beavers, as he drained four three-pointers in the contest. Brett Meyer added 14. McCook (7-8) has now lost four of five games, as they were led by Wesley Burkert with 14 points. 

Other Friday girls scores included McCook thrashing Burlington 54-18 on the consolation side. In the girls championship semis, Palmer Ridge knocked off Hugoton 52-36, and Colby outlasted Liberal 34-25.

For the boys on Friday, the Colby Eagles won their first game of the year in a 63-34 rout of Burlington and Liberal beat Hugoton 60-47 in the consolation semi-finals. The other championship semi-final game saw Palmer Ridge defeat Wichita West 49-34.

Saturday’s schedule for the girls has Burlington up against Sunrise Christian in the high school for seventh place at 12 pm, Scott City vs McCook for fourth and sixth place at 2 in the Community Building, Hugoton facing Liberal in the high school at 4 pm, and Palmer Ridge taking on Colby for the championship in the Community Building at 6 pm.

The boys games on Saturday feature Burlington and Hugoton at the Community Building for seventh place at 12 pm, Colby vs Liberal for fourth place at 2 pm at the high school, McCook taking on Wichita West at 4 pm at the Community Building, and Scott City going up against Palmer Ridge in the Community Building for the championship at 8:15 pm.