Scott City drops a pair of overtime games in Goodland

Goodland, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–For the second straight year, Scott City and Goodland’s regular season finale was postponed to a Thursday from the previous Tuesday. While Thursday’s regular season finale had no implications on sub-state seeding, there was still plenty to play for. Both games would have similar stories. Unfortunately for the Beavers, it would not be in their favor. Goodland would take a pair of overtime games, as the Cowgirls never trailed in overtime in a 49-46 upset, while the Cowboys also never trailed in the extra session, and took a 57-52 victory. It was the first time that Goodland has swept Scott City since 2014.

Goodland Girls 49, Scott City 46, OT
This was a game that Scott City would lead for a vast majority of the night. The Lady Beavers led 9-3, before Goodland rallied to tie the game at 9 with 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Scott City scored the final three points of the opening period, and the first seven points of the second stanza to take their first 10-point lead of the game at 19-9 with 4:40 left before halftime. The Cowgirls scored the last nine points of the half to pull to within 19-18, and took their first lead of the second half on a basket to cap an 11-0 run to lead 20-19 with 7:21 left in the third frame. Scott City (17-3, 7-3 GWAC) countered with an 11-0 run to take their second 10-point lead of the game at 30-20 with 4:37 left in the third quarter. They wouldn’t score for the rest of the period, as Goodland (10-10, 4-6) scored the last four points to get to within 30-24 after three periods. The Lady Beavers led 36-26 with 4:31 left, which was their third 10-point lead of the game. It would be a big comeback effort yet once again for the Cowgirls, and they would go on a 13-1 run to lead 39-36 with 30 seconds left. Scott City would tie the game up on a put back by Shelby Patton to force overtime, tied at 39. In the extra session, Goodland would control the game. After they were tied at 41, the Cowgirls scored six of the next seven points to take a 47-42 lead with 35.5 seconds left. The Lady Beavers were only to get to within three points on a pair of occasions, before falling 49-46. 

Leading the charge for Goodland was Taighe Weeter with 20 points and Talexa Weeter scored 19. The Cowgirls were 11-15 at the line and had nine turnovers. Scott City was led by Emily Weathers with 22 points and Brynn McCormick added 12. The Lady Beavers shot just 9-18 at the free throw line, and finished with 14 turnovers. Scott City won the rebounding edge 27-24.

The win by Goodland snapped an eight-game winning streak in the series by Scott City, and a two game winning streak in Goodland. Since 1984, the series is tied at 26 wins apiece. It was Goodland’s first win in the series since 2017, when they won 45-36. It snapped Scott City’s four-game win streak. Scott City finishes third in the league, their lowest finish since finishing fourth in 2015-16. The Lady Beavers have won at least 17 games in a season for the last three seasons. The Cowgirls won their most games since 2015-16, and finished fourth in GWAC play, which was their highest finish since the 15-16 season.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Goodland Boys 57, Scott City 52, OT
Coach Brian Gentry knew that Goodland was better than their 2-17 record coming in. Prior to Thursday’s game, the Beavers defeated the Cowboys by 14 and seven points. Scott City would lead for a vast majority of the night, but were unable get that one big run of the night. They led by as many as four in the first quarter, before taking a 12-10 lead after eight minutes. In the second period, the Beavers led 20-13 with 2:29 left before half, before the Cowboys made a push to pull to within 22-18 at the break. Scott City led by seven twice in the second frame, but were unable to lead by more than six in the third quarter. Goodland (3-17, 1-9 GWAC) would outscore the Beavers 7-3 over the final 4:14 of third stanza to get to within 31-30 after three quarters of play. Scott City (10-10, 5-5) raced out in the first 73 seconds of the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run, and matched their biggest lead for the third time in the game, leading 37-30 with 6:47 left. The Cowboys slowly chipped away at the deficit, and took their first lead at 40-39 with 3:10 left. It would go back and forth, as Goodland hit another three to go up 46-44 with 56 seconds left. Ronnie Weathers would tie the game at 46 with 31 seconds remaining, and the Cowboys missed a game-winning shot at the end of regulation, which forced overtime tied at 46. Goodland would lead 52-51 with 1:49 left in the extra session, when the Beavers had their chances to take the lead on a pair of occasions. Costly turnovers would doom Scott City in, as the Cowboys closed the game out on a 6-1 run, and surprised the Beavers 57-52.

Goodland was led by Brennan Brumbaugh with 25 points, while Henry Cole added 13. The Cowboys went 11-20 at the foul line and had 23 turnovers. Scott City got 11 points from Parker Gooden and Ronnie Weathers, while Hunter Yager added 10. The Beavers would go 7-11 at the line, and committed 22 turnovers. Goodland won the battle on the boards 25-22.

With the win, the Cowboys snapped a five game losing streak in the series, as well as a six-game skid in the Max Jones Fieldhouse. Their last win at home against the Beavers came in February of 2014, when they picked up a 46-42 upset victory. Since 1984, Scott City leads the series 35-18, ans has won 11 of 13 games, and 32 of their last 34 in the series. The Beavers finished 5-5 in GWAC play, finishing in third place in the standings, which was their highest finish since 2017-18. That was also the last time they were 10-10 in the regular season. Goodland finished sixth in the league standings with a 1-9 mark for a second straight year, but tripled their win total from last season.

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

Postseason play will begin on Monday for the boys and Tuesday for the girls. The Scott City boys will play at Holcomb on Monday, while the girls host Southwestern Heights on Tuesday. The Goodland boys head to Lakin on Monday, and the girls travel to Hugoton on Tuesday.