Scott City boys, Lakin girls win close contests

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Coming off midseason tournament play, the Scott City Beavers and Lakin Broncs had a quick turnaround on Tuesday night, and both games saw battles come down to the end. In the girls game, the Lady Broncs led pretty much the entire way, and held off a late surge by Scott City in a 43-40 win, while the Beaver boys held off Lakin late in a 54-48 win.

Girls
If the first quarter didn’t count, Scott City would probably be staring at a three-game win streak. Another slow start plagued the Lady Beavers, as Lakin took advantage of Scott City’s rough first half shooting to build a 28-14 halftime lead. The Lady Broncs never trailed in the game, and led 12-6 after the first quarter. They would have two runs of eight straight points from late in the first to the first minute of the second period, and also close the final half of the second quarter with an 8-0 run. Scott City (4-8) had one big scoring drought in the game that really hurt them. They did not score for about a five minute, 20 second span in the second and third quarters that gave the Lady Broncs their biggest lead at 14. However, the offense started making their way in to the game, that was also aided by good defense. The Lady Beavers used a 9-0 run to bet back to within 30-25 with three minutes left int he third quarter, and would eventually trail 33-29 going into the final quarter. In the final eight minutes, it looked as though Lakin (6-6) would pull away. The Lady Broncs scored six of next eight minutes over a three minute stretch to lead 39-33 with 3:57 left. Scott City would make one final surge. They scored six straight to tie the game at 39 with 1:21 left. The Lady Broncs would hit four of their final six free throws in the final 33.2 seconds, as the Lady Beavers had a chance to tie or take the lead on two occasions in the final minute. Scott City trailed 43-40 with 5.6 seconds, as they were able to push it down the floor, only to miss the game-tying three just a few feet short as time expired. Lakin had two players in double figures, led by Robin Ritsema with 19 points, who had 14 in the first half, while Kaylee Line added 10. Scott City finished with three in double figures, led by Bailey Latta’s 14 points all coming in the second half, while Nicole Latta had 12 points and Kiana Yager finished with 10. The Lady Beavers finished with only 15 turnovers, while forcing 25 for Lakin. The Lady Broncs have now won four straight in the series.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Boys
Both Scott City and Lakin had a couple similarities entering Tuesdays matchup. Not only did they have identical records, they both won the tournaments they competed in over the weekend. The first quarter alone saw six lead changes and two ties. Scott City would string together a run of 13 straight points in a three minute stretch in the first and second quarters to lead 21-10 with 6:06 left in the first half. Lakin would slowly cut into the deficit. After the Beavers hit four of their final five threes of the first quarter, they hit only two three-pointers the rest of the way. The Broncs would trail 30-24 at the break, and make a surge to retain the lead midway through the third quarter, using an 11-2 run in the first 3:58 of the second half. Both teams would slow down scoring in the third quarter, as the game was tied at 37 going into the final eight minutes. Despite the four-minute drought in the third quarter, Scott City (9-3) would settle back in and get back into the lead in the final eight minutes, thanks in part to Kyle Cure scoring the teams first six points of the final quarter. After the Beavers built a 45-39 lead with 4:32 remaining, Lakin (8-4) couldn’t get any closer than two points at 45-43 with 3:16 left. A couple of Scott City turnovers in the final minutes kept the Broncs alive for the time being, as Lakin pulled to within 49-46 with 30 seconds left. The Beavers hit five of their final six free throws to end the game, and secure their ninth win of the year, and their 11th straight over the Broncs. Scott City got 14 points from Dylan Hutchins, who hit three of four charity shots in the final quarter, while Bo Hess and Kyle Cure added 10 points. Scott City ended up with a 12-17 performance from the foul line and only had six turnovers. Leading the way for Lakin was Ryder Yakel with a game-best 19 points. The Broncs continued their solid foul shooting from Saturday night with a 13-16 night a the free throw line.

Assistant Coach Alex Hutchins Postgame