Scott City girls win 33rd Orange & Black, boys take home fourth place

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–When it’s the final day of a three-day tournament, it can be easy just to go through the motions and move on to the next game. Saturday on the final day of the 33rd Annual Orange & Black Classic in Colby, the Scott City Beaver basketball teams continued to build on Friday’s successes with gritty performances, as the Lady Beavers put the clamps on Pueblo East early on, en route to a 54-28 championship win, while the boys maintained a lead throughout most the game in the fourth place game, and picked up a nice 49-36 win over the Hutchinson Salthawks.

Girls
History hasn’t been on the side of Scott City against the Pueblo East Lady Eagles. The same could also be said about two of their last three foes heading into the championship game. Playing in their first Orange & Black championship game since 2002, the Lady Beavers left no doubt who the best team in the tournament was. While Pueblo East was without their leading scorer Riley Harding due to an ankle injury, Scott City went for the jugular early and often in the first half. The Lady Beavers jumped out to a 7-0 lead midway through the first period before the Lady Eagles got on the board with 2:12 left in the period. After a 9-5 lead late in the opening period, Scott City (10-1) went on their second big run over a two-minute span, using an 11-0 run to go up 20-5 with 7:02 left in the half. The closest Pueblo East would get the rest of the half and game was at 10, with a 5-0 run to get to within 20-10 with 4:33 left before the break. The Lady Beavers used a 7-2 run to close out the half to push their lead to 27-12 at intermission.

It was all Scott City in the third quarter. After they scored the final two points of the half, they would go on a 19-3 run to go up 46-15 with 44 seconds left in the third quarter. Pueblo East (10-5) scored a late free throw to get to the 30-point margin at the end of the quarter to make it 46-16. A running clock was used in the fourth quarter since it was a 30-point margin. The Lady Beavers got their lead to as big as 34 at 50-16 early in the fourth, before Coach Sarah McCormick cleared the bench. Scott City would score four points after that, seeing the Lady Eagles go on a 12-4 run over the final five minutes of the game, as Scott City coasted to the 54-28 win.

Emily Weathers scored a career-high 20 points, while Kaitlyn Roberts had her third straight double-figure game with 12 points. The Lady Beavers were 4-4 at the foul line and had only six turnovers. Pueblo East was led by Ayanna Vigil with eight points, as they were 5-8 at the free throw line and committed 21 turnovers.

With the win, it was the first win for Scott City in four tries against Pueblo East, and they earned their first Orange & Black championship since 1995, which was their first year in the tournament. Scott City is now 2-2 in the tournament’s championship game and 29-40 all time in 23 tournament appearances.

Scott City got Emily Smith, Emily Weathers and Macie Price on the All-Tournament Team. Price won the Gary Garrett Sportsmanship Award and Smith was named to the Academic All-Tournament Team and was the tournament’s MVP.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Boys
Scott City and Hutchinson met up for the first time since 1997, when the Salthawks won in the opening round of the McPherson Tournament. Saturday would be the the day that the Beavers would control a majority of the game. After the Salthawks score the first two points, Scott City used an 8-0 to take the lead, a lead they would never surrender. Their hot shooting allowed them to get up to a 14-4 margin with 4:40 left in the first quarter. Jordan Horn and Reid Brunswig helped spark the hot start with a pair of three pointers each. The Beavers led 16-9 after one period, only to see Hutchinson (3-8) outscore the Beavers in the second quarter 10-8 to pull to within 24-19 at the break.

In the second half, Scott City (5-6) never went on a big run, but maintained a lead of no more than eight, but no fewer than four. A late three in the third quarter by Hunter Yager gave the Beavers a 36-29 lead heading into the final period. The Salthawks would only hit one field goal in the final period. That came on their first points of the quarter with 6:02 to go to pull to within 38-32. The closest Hutchinson got in the final eight minutes was at 40-35 with 5:07 left. Despite the long scoring drought, Scott City was able to fend off the Salthawks during a three and a half minute drought. Jordan Horn’s layup helped the Beavers close the game on a 9-0 run, with seven free throws, to give them the 49-36 win.

Scott City got good production out of their seniors for a second straight afternoon, led by Jordan Horn with 15 points, Reid Brusnwig with 10 and Zach Carson added nine. The Beavers had only seven turnovers and were 8-10 at the foul line, all in the second half. They also were 6-8 in the final period at the charity line. Horn finished with an average of 22.3 points in tournament play. Hutchinson was led by Davian Vigil with eight points. The Salthawks had nine turnovers and were 5-8 at the free throw line.

In the win, Scott City improved to 3-1 in fourth place games in the Orange & Black, and improved to 33-18 all time in 18 tournament appearances. It was also the first win over Hutchinson in their last three tries.

Two players were recognizes for tournament honors for Scott City. Jordan Horn was named to the All-Tournament Team, and Reid Brunswig was selected as part of the Academic All-Tournament Team.

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame