Scott City girls win big, boys fall short in overtime

Colby, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The final day of a three-day tournament can be a challenge, sometimes more mentally than physically. Saturday’s games for Scott City showed mostly positively good signs of being in the games mentally, looking to gain confidence heading into the final run of the regular season. The Beavers would see a split with both teams, as the girls had no problem with Lotus School For Excellence 66-18, while the boys fell in overtime to Pine Creek 64-57.

Girls
Heading into the game, there was no doubt that Scott City was going to win. How they would distribute the playing time with all 12 players would be the biggest question. Lotus School for Excellence (2-7) only had five players available for the tournament. The game was over early, as the Lady Beavers scored the games first 14 points, and led 22-3 after the first quarter. Scott City’s lead would grow to 37-3 at the break, and 54-5 after three quarters. The Lady Beavers scored 32 consecutive points, as Lotus went near 15 and a half minutes without a point. Scott City (6-6) would be outscored 13-12 in the final quarter. The game had a continuous clock for the second half. Eleven different players scored for the Lady Beavers, as they were led by Emily Weathers with a new career high of 16 points, followed by Emily Smith with 10. Scott City was 6-10 at the foul line and had 10 turnovers. For the Lady Meteors, Leslye Juarez had 11 points, as they dropped their sixth straight game. With the win, the Lady Beavers are now 24-42 all-time 22 years of being in the Orange & Black, and improved to 4-4 in the tournament’s seventh place game. The 66 points scored in a game were the most in a game since scoring 69 points against McCook on January 22, 2010.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

The Girls All-Tournament team consisted of Hannah Diaz and of Falcon, Samiyah Worrell of Fountain Fort Carson, Anna Squiers, Jordan Streit, Katelyn Long and Kylie Thiele from Kearney Catholic, Jade Odom and Gabi O’Connor of Pine Creek, and Pueblo East’s Kayla Albo and Nastassja Rubio. Colby’s Brittany Foss received the Off The Bench award and the MVP was Anna Squiers from Kearney Catholic.

Other scores from Saturday had Pine Creek defeating Fountain Fort Carson 52-26 in the fourth place game, Falcon upending Colby 60-34 in the third place game, and Kearney Catholic pulling away form Pueblo East 69-46.

Boys
Scott City knew they would be in for a challenge against Pine Creek in the fifth place game. The Eagles in 11 of their first 12 games hit 119 three-pointers. Saturday, Pine Creek would hit nine. There were seven lead changes and five ties in the contest. The Beavers started out good, and led 19-13 after the first quarter, leading by as many as nine points. Their lead in the first half would grow to as big as 10 at 28-18 with 2:51 remaining in the first half. The Eagles would pull to within 30-22 at the break. Pine Creek (7-6) started their big run to get back in the game in the first two minutes of the second half, using a 13-4 run to lead 35-34 with 2:42 remaining in the third period. The Eagles led 40-39 going into the fourth quarter, when Scott City (6-6) scored the first five points to take a 44-40 lead in the first minute of the final period. Pine Creek responded with a 9-2 run to lead 49-46 with 4:41 left. The Beavers came back on a 7-2 run to lead 53-51 at the 1:59 mark of the game on a pair of Bo Hess free throws. Scott City would miss a late shot, and the Eagles would respond with a layup by Quinten Gutierrez with 21 seconds left, tying the score at 53. The Beavers missed a layup at the end of regulation with around two seconds left, and they would play their second extra period in as many days. Pine Creek never trailed in overtime, as they forced four Scott City turnovers, and sank 9-10 free throws to win their first fourth place game in their third try. The Beavers trailed 58-57 with 55.6 remaining, and had a chance to take the lead late, but turned the ball over. They also went 2-5 in overtime at the free throw line. Pine Creek got a career-high 32 points from Quinten Gutierrez, as he was 12-12 at the foul line, with eight coming in overtime. He also connected on four three-pointers. Dawson Thomas add 13 for the Eagles, who finished 15-18 at the free throw line, and out-rebounded the Beavers 29-23. Scott City got 18 points from Bo Hess and 11 from Jordan Horn. They were 11-19 at the foul line, and had 13 turnovers. With the loss, Scott City is now 2-1 in fourth place games at the Orange & Black, and are 31-17 all-time in 16 tournament appearnaces. 

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

The Boys All-Tournament Team consisted of Brooks Curry and Jordan Schippers from Colby, Falcon’s Reece Warren and Noah Martinez, Sindou Cisse and Aaris Bonds from Far Northeast, TJ Lucero from Fountain Fort Carson, Hays’ Tyrese Hill, Quinten Gutierrez from Pine Creek, and Bo Hess from Scott City. The Off The Bench Award went to Carter Stanley from Colby, and the tournament MVP was Aaris Bonds from Far Northeast. 

Other scores from Saturday had Hays defeating Lotus School For Excellence 65-42, Falcon defeating Colby in the third place game 62-38, and Far Northeast holding off Fountain Fort Carson in the championship game 54-47.

Scott City will hit the road for three straight times, beginning with a non-league battle at Lakin on Tuesday.