Scott City Boys, Cimarron Girls take Tuesday night victories

Cimarron, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–February is the final month where teams make a final push, and gain confidence to build up for a postseason run in March. On Tuesday night at Cimarron High School, the two state-ranked teams prevailed, as the No. 2 team in Class 3A Lady Bluejay squad took down Scott City 60-26, while the No. 3 team in 3A Beaver boys thumped Cimarron 79-34 in games that saw the winners lead wire-to-wire.

In the girls game, Scott City had one of their better starts in their past three games. Unfortunately early on for the Lady Beavers, they traded two-pointers for three-point shots with Cimarron. The Lady Bluejays would lead 18-6 after the first quarter. Cimarron (14-0) opened the game up in the second quarter, starting with the first seven points of the period, and ended with the final 12 to take a 38-10 halftime lead. Their lead would grow to as many as 35 at 55-20 after the third period. Slow scoring for both teams in the fourth frame saw Scott City (3-11) outscore the Lady Bluejays 6-5 to make the final 60-26. Two Cimarron players scored in double figures, led by Kari Blattner with 15 points, while Morgan Ediger added 11. Leading the way for the Lady Beavers was junior Nicole Latta with seven.

Coach Shelby Crawford Postgame

Defense helped pave the way from the start for Scott City. The Beavers scored the games first eight points before Cimarron put up their first two. Six turnovers by the Bluejays early on doomed the young squad early, as Scott City built up an 18-8 lead after one quarter. The Beavers continued their solid shooting from the field, scoring the first nine points in the second period, and later in the quarter scored nine straight, en route to a 41-17 halftime lead. After Cimarron (7-8) outscored the Beavers 6-4 through the first 2:23 of the second half, Scott City (13-1) put the game away for good, scoring the next 23 points in a seven-minute stretch, and led 68-23 with 6:25 left. The Bluejays would be outscored 19-11 in the final eight minutes of the game, as Scott City has now won seven straight. Four Beavers finished in double figures, led by Trey O’Neil’s 18 points, followed up by Dylan Hutchins with 15 and Brett Meyer and Sloan Baker each had 14. Cimarron got a team-high seven points off the bench from Wyatt Bell. Scott City hit 13 three-points shots on Tuesday, giving them 27 over the past two weeks.

Coach Glenn O’Neil Postgame

Scott City will return home for the first time in three weeks, and six straight games outside Scott City, as they will host the Hugoton Eagles Friday night for Winter Homecoming. Cimarron will have two straight on the road, beginning with a trip to Lakin on Friday.