Scott City sweeps Ulysses in a Senior Night special

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Scott City would host longtime rival Ulysses on Tuesday night, as they looked to continue their improvement in their final games of the season. On Senior Night, both the boys and girls teams would see their seniors shine with special nights, as the Beavers would sweep the Tigers for a second time this year. It would be a 63-37 win for the girls, while the boys would take a 76-56 win.

Scott City Girls 63, Ulysses 37
The No. 5 team in Class 3A would pull away in the second quarter, but not without a fight against a struggling Lady Tiger team. Ulysses would score the first points of the night, only to see Scott City use a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to lead 12-4 at the midway point of the first quarter. The Lady Tigers would rally to within 16-12 after the first eight minutes. They would get no closer than five the rest of the night. In the second period, the Lady Beavers used a 10-2 run over two-minute stretch to go up 30-17 with 2:56 left before the break. Emily Weathers would start the run on their 10th point of the night, that put her over 1,000 career points with 5:08 left in the second quarter. It would be a 38-22 Lady Beaver lead at the break. Scott City (16-2, 6-2 GWAC) used a 14-4 run to lead 52-26 late in the third frame, before the Lady Tigers scored the final six points of the quarter to cut it to 52-32 after three quarters. The Lady Beavers would score the first eight points of the fourth quarter to go up 60-32 with 4:26 left, before Ulysses (1-17, 0-8) scored five of the final eight points of the game make the final 63-37 Scott City. 

Four players would finish in double figures, led by Jacy Rose with a career-high 15 points. Rose hit five three’s in the first half. Emily Weathers added 14 points, and now sits at 1,005 career points. Brynn McCormick finished with 12 and Lyndi Rumford had 10 points. Scott City went 14-19 at the free throw line and had 14 turnovers. Ulysses was led by Jocelin Baeza with 11 points. The Lady Tigers shot 9-20 from the foul line and had 15 turnovers, as they have dropped 15 straight games. Scott City won the rebounding battle 43-28.

With the win, Scott City swept the season series for the first time since 2017, and carry a 43-31 advantage in the series since 1984. They also snapped a two-game losing streak at home against the Lady Tigers.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Scott City Boys 76, Ulysses 56
Ulysses led briefly 2-0, before Scott City used a 6-0 run to help start a run that will be memorable for a long time. The Beavers led by as big as 16-7 in the first quarter, before the Tigers pulled to within 16-9 after the first eight minutes of play. To open the second quarter, Hunter Yager opened the period with three straight triples to push the lead to 25-11 with 6:18 left before halftime. Scott City (9-9, 4-4 GWAC) hit 12 three’s in the first half, and led by as many as 17 at 41-24 with 1:40 remaining before the break, and led 45-30 at recess. Yager would have 31 points in the first half, and Scott City had only one two-point basket in the opening half. Ulysses (6-12, 3-5) would make it interesting to begin the second half, getting to within 11 at 47-36 with 4:59 remaining in the third stanza. The Beavers responded with a 7-1 run to match their biggest lead at 54-37 with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter. To close the final three minutes, the Tigers closed the period with a 10-2 run to get the game to single digits at 56-47 after three quarters of play. The closest Ulysses got was 58-48 with 6:33 left, as the Beavers pulled away in the final stanza, finishing the game on a 10-2 run to take a 76-56 victory. Their largest lead was at the end at 20 points. Scott City snapped a three-game losing streak with the win.

Hunter Yager would finish with 10 three’s and a new career-high 42 points. It was the first time a Beaver scored 40-plus points since Trey O’Neil had 42 vs Minneapolis in the semi-finals of the 2015 sub-state. Parker Gooden added 10, while Josh Rosin set a new career-high with 10. The Beavers went 9-16 at the free throw line and hit 13 three’s as a team, as they finished with 15 turnovers. Leading Ulysses was Lance Walker with 15 and Aaron Galindo had 11. The Tigers went 7-11 from the foul line and had 11 turnovers. Scott City had the rebounding edge 31-26.

With the win, Scott City has now won five of the last six in the series, as they improved to 50-21 vs Ulysses since 1985. They have won three straight at home against the Tigers. Ulysses has struggled since Christmas, as they are now 2-11 since the break.

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

After Tuesday night, the Lady Beavers remain one game ahead of Colby for the top spot in sub-state, and are guaranteed no worse than a two seed. With Holcomb’s road win at Hugoton on the boys side, the Beaver boys will be on the road for the first round of sub-state play on March 2. The Ulysses girls will remain at the 18th seed in the Class 4A, West sub-state, while the Tiger boys are in the 12th seed in the west in Class 4A.

Scott City will close out their home schedule at home on Friday against Holcomb, while Ulysses hosts Goodland for their home finale on Friday.