Hugoton girls roll, Scott City boys pick up big road win

Hugoton, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–This past week has had a schedule that’s been out of balance. Both Scott City and Hugoton had games postponed on Tuesday due to the weather. Hugoton had school and made up their Tuesday games with Holcomb Thursday night, while Scott City was out of school for two days, and made the trek to face the Eagles Friday night in their second and final meeting of the year. After the night was over, it was Hugoton winning the girls game 62-32, while the Beaver boys took down the Eagles 59-51 in a battle of state-ranked teams. 

Girls
Coming off a season-high 82 points Thursday night against Holcomb, Hugoton faced a different type of defense, that made other players have to step up. The Lady Eagles raced out to a 15-0 lead, before Scott City scored their first points. Unlike the first meeting, the Lady Beavers never allowed Hugoton (14-1, 6-0) to have any bigger run than eight points the rest of the night. The Lady Eagles led 17-5 after one quarter and 37-11 at the break. Scott City made Hugoton work for their 37 first half points, as the Lady Eagles were 10-11 from the foul line and only 13-38 in the first half from the field, with only one three-pointer. Hugoton extended their lead to 58-24 after three quarters, which prompted a running clock in the final quarter. Scott City (4-10, 2-4) did outscore the Lady Eagles 8-4 in the final quarter, as Hugoton has now won 11 in a row over the Lady Beavers. Hugoton had three players finish in double figures, led by Brooklyn Harper’s 16 points, followed by Dallie Hoskinson with 14 and Katy Heger with 12 for the No. 1 team in Class 4A, Division II. Scott City was led by Kaitlyn Roberts with 11. The Lady Eagles were 15-17 from the foul line, while the Lady Beavers were 5-12.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Boys
Two state-ranked teams faced off with nice win streaks entering Friday night’s battle. Scott City looked to avenge an early season loss, in which they held Hugoton to their lowest point total of the season. The No. 10 team in Class 3A came in with a six-game win streak, and had won eight of nine games since their loss to the Eagles before the Christmas break. Hugoton, the No. 3 ranked team in Class 4A, Division II, entered the game unbeaten and fresh off an overtime road win at No. 1 Holcomb Thursday night. Early one, the pace was slower, and both teams had a hard time getting any offense going. Scott City led early 5-2, before the Eagles scored the games next seven points to lead 9-5 late in the first quarter. That would be the biggest lead of the game for Hugoton. The Beavers battle back and trailed 12-11 after the first quarter, despite only two field goal conversions. Scott City (11-3, 4-2 GWAC) used a 9-1 run in about an 90-second span of the second quarter to take a 20-14 lead with 4:42 left in the first half on a rare four-point play by Dylan Hutchins. The Beavers would lead by as many as six, and eventually take a 24-19 halftime lead. Hugoton (14-1, 5-1) could not get any closer than six in the second half. Scott City took their first double-digit lead with 3:01 left in the third stanza at 34-24. Colby Korf would answer back with a three-pointer to cut the Eagle deficit to 34-27 with 2:27 left in the third quarter. Over the next four minutes, the Beavers went on a 10-0 run to change the dynamics of the game, and led 44-27 with 6:09 remaining. That run was highlighted by another Hutchins rare four-point play. Hugoton kept chipping away and made it a free throw contest down the stretch. During the critical run of the fourth quarter, the Eagles were unable to get any closer than nine, despite getting a late basket to make the final 59-51. Scott City was led by Bo Hess with 20 points, while Dylan Hutchins had 17 points, all coming in the final three quarters. Hugoton’s top two scorers were Zack Leininer with 15 points, nine coming in the final quarter, while Parker Titus added 10. Scott City ended up 21-29 from the foul line for the game, including a 12-20 run in the fourth quarter alone. The Eagles were 14-25 from the charity line on the night.

Assistant Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

Up next for Scott City is another tough road trip to TMP Marian at Al Billinger Fieldhouse Tuesday night. The girls game will tip off at 6 pm, with the boys to follow. Hugoton has Tuesday night off, and will travel to Goodland next Friday.