Scott City blows past Kingman
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Scott City entered as a heavy favorite on Friday night against the Kingman Eagles to open up sub-state play at the Scott Community Events Center. While the first half may have been a little sluggish for the Beavers, they were able to dominate in the second half, as they advanced to Wednesday’s semi-finals with a 73-28 victory, that gave Scott City Coach Brian Gentry his 100th career victory.
The Beavers never trailed, and the closest Kingman got was 6-4 midway through the first quarter. In the first half, Scott City (17-4) used runs of 11, 6, and 12. When the Eagles pulled to within 19-11 early in the second quarter, the Beavers used an 18-3 run to lead 37-14 at the break. Kingman (6-15) scored five straight in the second half to pull to within 40-21 midway through the third quarter. That’s when Scott City would go on a run of 31-2 over a nine-minute stretch to pull away for the win, as their lead swelled to 71-23 with under three minutes left.
Avery Radke poured in a career-high 24 points for Scott City, and Jackson Rumford added 19 and Eloy Ruelas had 11. The Beavers went 11-21 at the free throw line and finished with 11 turnovers. Kingman was led by Ben Bradshaw with nine points, as the Eagles were just 3-7 at the foul line and had 23 turnovers.
Scott City played in their first sub-state quarterfinal game at home since 2019, and was the first time they hosted a postseason game inside the Scott Community Events Center. They have won the last two meetings against Kingman and now lead the series 2-1. It was the first time the teams met up outside of the Sterling Invitational Tournament.
Coach Brian Gentry Postgame
Box Score
Kingman 9 5 9 5–28
Scott City 17 20 19 17–73
Kingman (6-15): Wood 1 0-0 2; Smith 1 0-0 3; Clark 1 0-0 2; Cremins 3 2-5 8; Bradshaw 4 1-1 9; Campbell 0 0-0 0; Hepburn 0 0-0 0; Anderson 0 0-0 0; Birkenbaugh 2 0-1 4; Team: 12 3-7 28
Scott City (17-4): Metzger 1 0-0 2; Ruelas 4 2-5 11; Stoecklein 0 0-0 0; Radke 8 5-6 24; Faurot 2 1-2 5; Meza 2 0-0 6; Tarango 1 0-0 2; Irvin 0 0-0 0; Wren 1 0-0 2; Rumford 8 1-4 19; Bailey 0 2-4 2; Gossman 0 0-0 0; Team: 27 11-21 73
Three-Point Goals: Kingman 1 (Smith 1), Scott City 8 (Radke 3, Meza 2, Rumford 2, Ruelas 1); Turnovers: Kingman 23, Scott City 11; Fouls: Kingman 16, Scott City 14; Fouled Out: None.
Scott City will host Norton on Wednesday night. The Bluejays defeated Lyons at home 60-52. It’s the first meeting between the teams since 1985. Colby took care of Russell 70-43, and will travel to Goodland on Wednesday night for their fifth meeting of the season. The Cowboys defeated Cimarron on Thursday night 59-33, and have also beaton Colby all four meetings this year. In the other sub-state in the Scott City region, Lakin blasted Nickerson 87-28, Hoisington went on the road to defeat Southwestern Heights 61-37, Holcomb thumped Larned 80-40 and Beloit defeated Ellsworth 55-38.
