Scott City sweeps Cimarron

Cimarron, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Two schools in the Southwestern Heights sub-state battled Tuesday night in a non-league matchup, as Scott City made the trek to Cimarron to face the Bluejays. In a pair of games that could have postseason implications, it would be a Beaver sweep, as the Lady Beavers overcame a slow start to pick up a 61-54 win, and the Scott City boys led most of the night in a 73-56 win.

Scott City girls 61, Cimarron 54
While Scott City scored their season-high in points, it was a game that was filled with turnovers, especially early on. The Lady Beavers struggled early to get anything going, thanks to Cimarron forcing 10 first quarter turnovers, and getting transition buckets. The Lady Bluejays led 17-10 with two minutes left in the opening period, before Scott City got going. It would be a 13-0 Lady Beaver run, as they trailed by one after the first at 17-16, and eventually turned it into a 15-2 run over the next four minutes to lead 25-19 with 5:27 left in the half. Scott City’s lead would grow to as many as 12 with 2:27 left in the half at 35-23, on the heels of a 7-0 run. Cimarron cut the margin to 35-29 at the break, and scored the first four points of the second half to get to within 35-33 with 7:07 left in the third frame.

That’s the closest the Lady Bluejays would get. Scott City (9-5) would keep a safe distance from Cimarron for most of the second half, and never led by any fewer than three the rest of the night. After leading 48-41 after three quarters, a 9-2 run by the Lady Beavers in the mid to late stages of the fourth period would be too much for Cimarron (8-6), giving Scott City a 59-49 lead with 33.8 seconds remaining. It would be a Lady Beaver win in the end 61-54.

Emily Weathers led the charge for Scott City with a game-high 22 points, while Lyndi Rumford added 13 and Amber Latta had a career-high 10 points off the bench. Scott City was 16-29 at the foul line and had 20 turnovers. Cimarron was led by Cameren Bartlett’s 18 points, Taylor Jantz had 11 and Clara Bartlett finished with 10 points. The Lady Bluejays shot 13-22 at the free throw line, and finished with 28 turnovers. Scott city won the rebounding battle 33-18.

It was Scott City’s third straight win, while the Lady Bluejays dropped their third straight.

With the win, Scott City snapped a two-game skid vs Cimarron, and won in the series for the first time since March 1, 2016, when they won 45-34 in a sub-state first round game. It was also the most points scored by Scott City against the Lady Bluejays. Cimarron does lead the all-time series 10-6.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Scott City Boys 73, Cimarron 56
Cimarron would lead for a minute in the game. After that, it was all Scott City. The Bluejays would have a 3-2 lead, only to see the Beavers go on a 15-2 run over a three and a half minute span to lead 17-5 with 2:57 left in the first quarter. Scott City would lead 19-12 after the first eight minutes of play, and then start the second quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 28-14 with 4:54 left before halftime. Whenever Cimarron had an answer, the Beavers had an answer in the second quarter. Scott City would outscore the Bluejays 23-17 to take a 42-29 lead at intermission.

In the second half, Cimarron (5-9) would pull to within nine on a pair of occasions, with the last being at 46-37 with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter. After that, Scott City (10-4) closed the final five-plus minutes of the period on a 16-2 run to take a 62-39 lead into the final quarter. That would be the largest lead for the Beavers, as Cimarron would score seven of the final nine points of the game to close the gap at the end at 73-56.

Parker Vulgamore eclipsed his career-best from a week ago with 21 points, 19 coming in the first half. Evyan Smith had a career-high 11 and Joe Evans added 10. The Beavers had eight players Score. Scott City was 12-14 at the line and had 14 turnovers. Matt Mowry led Cimarron with 18 points and RJ Thomas had 14. The Bluejays had 11 players score, and finished 5-10 from the free throw line, while finishing with 12 turnovers. Scott City dominated the rebounding battle 25-12.

The Beavers have now won eight out of their last nine, while Cimarron has dropped three straight, and six out of their last eight games.

With the win, Scott City improves to 13-0 in the series all-time, and it was the first time they hit 70 points in the series since 2015.

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

Scott City will begin a three-game stretch at home, beginning Friday night against league foe Hugoton, while Cimarron returns to Hi-Plains League play by hosting Meade on Friday.