Scott City girls pull away from Pine Creek; boys fall to Fountain Ft. Carson

Colby, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The 33rd Annual Paul Wintz/Tonm Bowen Orange & Black Classic saw the same teams pretty much for the second straight year, with the exception of Hutchinson, who is a brand new team to the tournament. For Scott City, who has been at most of the duration of the tournament, it was a split decision. It would be the Lady Beavers winning their game over Pine Creek 59-43, while the boys were unable to rally late, falling 63-52 to Fountain Ft. Carson.

Girls
It was the fourth straight year that Scott City and Pine Creek have battled in the tournament. The first three years, it was the Lady Eagles coming out on top, but each year, the gap has been closing. This year, it was Scott City’s turn to win. The Lady Beavers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, but an 11-2 Pine Creek run would tie the game at 13 late in the first quarter, before a 15-13 Scott City lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Lady Eagles would score the first four points to take 17-15 lead, two minutes into the period. Scott City would score the next five, before Pine Creek (5-8) tied the game at 20 with 4:32 left in the half. After that, it was all Lady Beavers. Emily Smith’s and-one play sparked a 13-3 run to go up 33-23 with 51 seconds left in the half, before settling for a 33-26 halftime edge.

The third quarter would be the slowest quarter for both teams, as Scott City (8-1) built an 11-point lead with 4:46 left in the period to lead 41-30. After a 41-33 lead going into the final period, the Lady Beavers would start out on a 7-3 run to lead by 23 midway through the fourth quarter at 48-36. After a Pine Creek three pointer to cut it to 48-39 with 3:36 left, Scott City scored the next nine points and put the game in doubt, advancing to Friday’s championship semi-final game. In the end, the Lady Beavers matched their season-high in points at 59-43.

Kaitlyn Roberts drilled four three-poiners en-route to a game-high 16 points, followed by Emily Smith with 14 and Emily Weathers added 13. Scott City was 12-20 at the foul line and had eight turnovers. Pine Creek was led by freshman Jordyn Gutierrez with 15 points and Bri Bailey added 12. They were 7-10 at the foul line and had 17 turnovers

With the win, Scott City won their first tournament-opening game since 2004, and improved to 8-15 in the first round, and 27-40 all-time in 23 tournament appearances. Pine Creek is now 11-5 in the tournament, and are 4-2 in tournament openers.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Boys
It was the third straight year that Fountain Fort Carson and Scott City met up in the Orange & Black and the second straight year it was in the opening round. The Trojans raced out hot, hitting five of their first six shots to build an 11-2 lead with 4:56 left in the first quarter. Scott City battled back with an 11-2 run over the final 3:08 of the first quarter to tie the game at 13 after the first period. The Beavers had a hard time taking the lead, as the Trojans hit the opening three points of the second period to lead 16-13. Scott City (3-6) would take their only lead of the game on a 5-0 run to lead 18-16 with 5:47 left in the half. Fountain Fort Carson would respond with a 13-3 run over the final 4:32 of the half to take an eight point lead at the break at 29-21.

Whenever Scott City would be within reach, the Trojans would push away. The Beavers pulled to within two points with 1:34 left in the third period at 34-32, only to see Fountain Fort Carson (5-8) take advantage of two late turnovers in the quarter to push their lead to 39-32 after three quarters. The Trojans got a three-point play to begin the fourth quarter to lead 42-32, only to see Scott City make their final surge. It would take a while, but the Beavers used a 7-2 run, and a 13-4 run to tie the game at 52 on a Jordan Horn three with 2:36 left. Fountain Fort Carson would quickly race back and quickly take the lead back seconds later at 54-52, and never looked back. The Trojans closed the final 2:24 on an 11-0 run to take the win 63-52.

Rashon Barron led the way with 15 points, while Christian Tolentino had 14 points off the bench and James Sanders added 12 for Fountain Fort Carson. The Trojans were 11-18 at the free throw line, and had 15 turnovers. Jordan Horn led the way for Scott City with a career-high 30 points, hitting six three’s. The Beavers had 16 turnovers and were 11-17 at the foul line.

Scott City has dropped their second consecutive tournament opener, and are now 11-6 in the first round and 31-18 all-time in 18 tournament appearances. Fountain Fort Carson is 7-3 in their fourth tournament appearance and 3-1 in the tournament opener.

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

The Scott City girls will play Kearney Catholic Friday at 3 pm in the Colby Community Building in the championship semi-finals. The Lady Stars blitzed Lotus School of Excellence 70-10. Scott City’s boys will face Lotus School of Excellence in the consolation semi-finals Friday afternoon at the high school at 4:45, after a 66-38 loss to Far Northeast.

Other Girls scores from Thursday saw Fountain Fort Carson girls defeat Colby 45-36, and the Falcon/Pueblo score was unavailable.

On the boys side, it was Falcon defeating Hutchinson 60-46, and Colby knocking off Pine Creek 59-50.