Scott City splits doubleheader at Goodland Friday night

Goodland, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Two teams who will be in the same sub-state come March, and who very likely could face off, battled for the first time Friday night at the Max Jones Fieldhouse. Both games had the feeling of being close games, as both teams saw their girls and boys have records around .500. The midway point of the GWAC slate is officially here, as Goodland took the girls game 45-36, while the Scott City boys pulled away from the Cowboys to win 49-29.

Girls
Second place was on the line in the GWAC standings between two teams that seemed to be evenly matched. It proved to be that way early on, as there were five lead changes and one tie in the first period of play. Goodland would eventually lead 12-11 after the first quarter. The Cowgirls would not trail in the last three quarters, as they used a 16-0 run to build up a 26-11 lead with 2:41 left in the first half. Scott City went on a scoring drought during that span of 7:36, before they got their first basket of the second quarter with 1:34 left before the break. Goodland (6-7, 3-2 GWAC) built their lead to 30-13 before the Lady Beavers cut the deficit to 30-15 at the break. Both teams struggled scoring in the third quarter, as Scott City outscored the Cowgirls 7-3 in that eight-minute strethc to cut the deficit to 33-22 going into the final quarter. The Lady Beavers would make a run, scoring eight straight points to pull to within 33-28 wiht 5:09 remaining. Goodland then countered wiht an 8-2 run to lead 41-30 with 1:10 left. Scott City (7-7, 3-2) was unable to pull any closer than nine points the rest of the night, before the Cowgirls picked up the nine-point win at 45-36. Goodland got 17 points from Margaux Thompson, as they finished 17-25 at the foul line. Scott City got eight points apiece from Emily Smith and Emily Weathers. The Lady Beavers were 11-17 at the foul line. With the win, Goodland has now won five straight over Scott City, and seven of their last eight games. The loss was the first road defeat of the year for the Lady Beavers, who had won their first five road contests, the best since the 2008-09 season.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Boys
There was no doubt that both Scott City and Goodland have had their fair share of inconsistencies throughout the season. While their were scoring inconsistencies by both teams Friday night, the one consistent thing was who led. The Beavers never trailed in the game, and jumped out to a 20-11 lead after the first quater. Their lead would grow to 24-11 with 5:38 left in the first half, before they would begin a scoring drought. Goodland (6-7, 2-3 GWAC) ended a scoring drought of their own in the second quarter, going 6:33 without a basket, before getting their first points of the period with 3:11 remaining. The Cowboys added one more point to make it 24-14 Beavers at the break. Back to the Scott City drought. They went 8:58 without a basket. Goodland was only able to score six points in that stretch. The Beavers went on a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 34-17 with just over a minute left in the period. Scott City (8-6, 2-3) cruised in the fourth qurter, and led by as many as 21 points late in the game, and settled for the 20-point win at 49-29. The 29 points by the Cowboys were the second fewest in a game this year for them, ans was the third fewest allowed by the Beavers this year. Drew Duff went 7-9 from three-point range and scored a career-high 21 points, while Bo Hess added 10. Scott City was 8-13 at the free throw line, while turning the ball over only nine times. Goodland got eight points from Levi Archers, as they were forced into 20 turnovers and were just 3-7 from the foul line. Scott Ciyt has now won seven straight in the series since 2014, and are now 25-2 against the Cowboys since 2000. 

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

Scott City will continue their road trip on Tuesday with their final non-league game of the season at Cimarron, while Goodland visits Burlington on Tuesday night.