Beavers swept by Pueblo East
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Playing in their opening games of the season, Scott City’s boys and girls went up against Pueblo East, who were playing in their fifth games of the season. The Eagles would sweep the Beavers Thursday night at Scott Community High School, as the girls game resulted in a 64-31 final, while the boys was 69-51.
After Scott City scored the first two points in the girls game, Pueblo East scored nine of the next 10 points and never looked back. The Lady Eagles forced key turnovers, and parlayed that into a 20-2 run in a four-minute stretch of the first half, to take a 29-9 lead with 7:44 left before the break. Scott City would score the next six points to cut it to a 14-point margin with 4:41 remaining in the second quarter, but that would be the closest the Lady Beaver got the rest of the way. Pueblo East took a 40-19 halftime lead, and used a 22-4 third quarter run to put the game in doubt. The Lady Beavers kept fighting to the end though, as they outscored the Lady Eagles 8-2 in the final eight minutes. Four Pueblo East (4-1) players ended up in double figures, led by freshman Kayla Albo with a game-high 19 points, 16 of those came in the first quarter. Kassidi Day added 15 points, while Kelsey Laughlin and Jailen Minich chipped in 10 for the Lady Eagles. Scott City (0-1) was led by Bailey Nickel with 11 points, as they drop the head coaching debut for Shelby Crawford, who is the third head coach in as many years for the Lady Beaver program.
In the doubleheader finale, it seemed like Pueblo East could not miss from the field. After leading 24-15 after the first quarter, the Eagles took a 41-26 lead at the break. In the first half, they shot a blistering 69% from the field on 18-of-26 shooting. Scott City kept up with Pueblo East early on, but were unable to slow down the veteran Eagle team. The Beavers were unable to convert shots around the rim for a majority of the evening and trailed 56-33 after three quarters. In the final period, Scott City was able to get the deficit under 20, with an 18-13 run, and dropped their season-opening game. The Beavers (0-1), who return only one starter and play six who saw limited time last year, were led by junior Trey O’Neil, who had a game-high 19 points, while Brett Meyer added 14. Pueblo East (4-1) had three score double figures, led by senior Jimmy Valdez with 15 points, TJ Gradisar with 14 and Dylan Gavin poured in 11 points.
The second night of the Clarion Inn Southwest Classic is tonight, as Wichita Trinity will come to Scott City, and Pueblo East faces Holcomb. Garden City faces Denver South. Garden City swept Wichita Trinity Thursday night, as the Lady Buffs won 64-34, while the Buff boys won 58-38.
