Scott City splits with Wichita Trinity to open season
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–A new season dawned upon the Scott City boys and girls basketball teams Thursday night at Scott Community High School, as the Beavers played host to the Wichita Trinity Knights on the opening night of the Clarion Inn Southwest Classic. In their third meeting in as many seasons, the end results for the boys and girls would be similar to the previous two, as the Lady Knights would win 54-25, while the Scott City boys erased a 10-point halftime deficit to win 66-62.
The first game of the night saw Wichita Trinity and Scott City struggle scoring early on. It took over four minutes before one team would hit a field goal. Wichita Trinity would score the games first 11 points before Kiana Yager’s free throw put the Lady Beavers (0-1) on the scoreboard. The Lady Knights would lead 13-1 after the first quarter, and by a 22-5 margin with 4:49 before half. Scott City fought their way back to within 10 at 22-12, but Wichita Trinity (2-0) turned up their intensity on defense and never looked back. They would score the games next 10 points in a three-minute span in the second and third periods. Their lead grew to 48-17 after the third quarter, and a running clock would be used in the final period. Only one player scored double figures for both teams. Leading the way for Wichita Trinity was Kaleigh Schrag with 12 points, while Mariah Campbell led the Lady Beavers with 10.
Scott City Lady Beaver Coach Shelby Crawford Postgame
In the nightcap, the game would end up going to the wire. Wichita Trinity led most of the way, and scored the games first four points. After Scott City picked up their lone lead of the first half at 11-9, the Knights scored seven straight, and would eventually lead 21-17 after the end of the first quarter. The Beavers would cut it to two points at 24-22 with 5:02 left before halftime. That’s when Wichita Trinity (1-1) scored seven straight, to lead by nine with 3:40 left in the first half at 31-22. Scott City (1-0) cut it to four on a pair of occasions, but the Knights would pull away to lead 40-30 at half. After Wichita Trinity scored the first two points of the second half to push their lead to 42-30, the Beavers would begin to chip away. They would pull to within 42-37 with 4:48 left in the third quarter and trailed 51-44 going into the final frame. From late in the third quarter to the first couple minutes of the fourth, Scott City scored seven straight, and nine of the next 11 to tie the game at 53 with 4:50 remaining. After Wichita Trinity went ahead 55-53 on a Tyler Burns basket, both teams would trade three point baskets twice. Trey O’Neil’s triple with 3:07 left put the Beavers ahead 59-58, and it would be a lead they wouldn’t surrender. Sloan Baker, who was limited with foul trouble, scored the teams next five points, to lead 64-60 with 18 seconds left. After a Knight layup, Dylan Hutchins sank two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining to seal the double-digit comeback victory. Leading the way for Scott City was Trey O’Neil with 30 points, one point off his career-best 31 last season against Concordia in the Class 4A, Division II semi-finals. Dylan Hutchins ended up with a career-high 19 points and Bo Hess added 10, as only four players scored for Scott City. Wichita Trinity was led by Matt Jones with 21 and Alex Carro with 18.
Scott City Coach Glenn O’Neil Postgame
Day two of the Clarion Inn Southwest Classic is Friday night, as Scott City plays host to Kansas City Christian. KC Christian faced Holcomb Thursday night, as the Lady Panthers dropped to 0-2 with a 66-22 setback. The Panther boys are also 0-2, after they lost to the Longhorns 75-34.
