Fort Scott sophomore Jolee Sharp, seen here in Monday night's game versus Osawatomie, led the Tigers with 16 points as they defeated Burlington, 52-35 in a Sub-State semifinal game at Garnett Thursday night. (Captured Images/Kenny Felt) [Click to enlarge]

Jolee Sharp's steady hand helped put away the third-seeded Burlington Panthers as the Tigers took a 52-35 victory to advance to the finals for the second time in three years.

The Tigers (16-5) will face top-seeded Louisburg here at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Panthers staved off a furious Ottawa rally in the other semifinal, 44-43.

"It feels like I was out there playing," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong said. "The girls did all the hard work but I'm exhausted. It was a well-earned victory. Burlington came to play. They were physical and they got after it. But our girls handled the pressure and this is how Sub-State games are supposed to be...a battle."

Boys' semifinal games are tonight with second-seeded Fort Scott (14-6) taking on Louisburg (13-8) in a rematch of last year's final at 6 followed by fifth-seeded tourney host Anderson County (11-10) in a quest to continue its upset run against No. 1 Ottawa (16-5).

Gray scored the Tigers' first five points as she hit a three-pointer from the right wing, then took a pass from Joce Allen after a steal on the full-court press to the hoop for a layup.

Although Burlington responded with Korinn Card's triple moments later, the Wildcats (15-7) wouldn't score another field goal in the quarter. Kori Page Rienbolt extended Fort Scott's lead to 7-3 with a jumper.

Things slowed down -- way down after that as the Tigers wouldn't score another field goal again until Gray hit a three to make it 10-4 with 1:15 to go. Sharp beat the buzzer for a layup in transition to make it a 10-point lead.

Burlington got baskets by Heather Eddings and Allyx Barnhardt to start the second quarter but the Tigers were able to get the lead into double digits when Gray hit her third triple of the half to make it 25-13 with 4:11 to go.

Fort Scott ended the half on a 7-2 run with Sharp scoring a transition layup and Gray swishing her fourth trey with 25 seconds to go.

Gray was four for four from behind the arc in the first half and five of seven overall.

"(Gray) shot the ball very well and she was feeling it," Armstrong said. "When you have a threat consistently from the outside like that, it opens up dribble-penetration lanes. And it makes it hard for teams to scout us because it's not just one person (who scores) all the time."

Burlington focused more on Gray at the start of the second half and the Tiger offense had to adjust. Although Burlington never got even as close as 10 points, they were keeping the Tigers off the scoreboard. The problem for the Wildcats was they weren't scoring much more often themselves.

Fort Scott missed its first nine shots of the period before Brittany Bingesser hit a jumper, drew a foul and converted the three-point play to make the lead 38-21 with 1:42 remaining. Card answered with a layup for Burlington but Sharp came back down and converted a three-point play herself.

Autumn Kirchner made two free throws for Burlington near the end of the quarter but the Tigers held a 41-27 lead. Add in the fact that three Wildcat starters were in dire foul trouble and it was apparent that the road to a comeback had serious roadblocks on it.

Allen, then Sharp scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter for the Tigers. Card and Eddings scored consecutive baskets for the Wildcats to bring them within 45-31 with 4:12 to go.

But then Burlington's foul troubles began to take their toll. Barnhardt fouled out with 3:42 left and Eddings was gone after the 1:35 mark. Kristi Kesler finished the game with four fouls.

Sharp scored nine of her game-high 16 points in the second half while Gray, who didn't score again after halftime, finished with 14. Allen chipped in with nine and Rienbolt had seven.

"That's what we need," Armstrong said in reference to how multiple Tigers can handle the scoring load. "If you have one player, you will win some ball games. But at some point, teams will learn how to play you and what do you do if you don't have other players to step up?"

Eddings led Burlington with 14 points. She was the only Wildcat in double figures.

The Tigers shot 40 percent from the field for the game, making 17 of 43 field-goal attempts. Their six-for-10 performance in the second quarter was balanced out by a two-for-13 third quarter.

Burlington went one for eight in the first quarter, then went six for 12 in the second. Overall, however, the Wildcats shot 36 percent on 14 of 39, which includes a one-of-seven night from three-point range.

Turnovers were even at 19-19. But the Tigers dominated the boards, 35-20, as Sharp hauled down eight rebounds and Allen and Hannah Hawkins each had five.

Although you won't notice it so much by just looking at the box score, the bench also contributed nicely, such as on Bingesser's three-point play and Elizabeth Meech's four rebounds.

"When our bench players come in, there's no let down," Armstrong says. "I tell the girls that it's going to come down to whose bench is able to come in and play -- it always does. It takes someone who's very much a team player to accept that role. The minutes they give is vital to our success."

Louisburg 44, Ottawa 43.

What looked to be a blowout on more than one occasion instead came down to the last 30 seconds.

Louisburg (19-3) held a 22-10 lead after one period but saw fourth-seeded Ottawa (12-10) get back within seven during the third period.

But the Wildcats extended the lead again, this time taking a 40-28 lead into the final stanza.

However, the Cyclones scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter, tying it on junior Kristen Hendrickson's three-pointer from up top with exactly four minutes to go.

Louisburg junior post Katelynn O'Hara took an assist from classmate Abbey Frazier for a layup to break the tie with 2:25 remaining.

Sophomore Mandy Mulich had a chance to finally put things away for the 'Cats with 39 seconds left but missed the front and of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity. Ottawa's Shelby Miller got the rebound and eventually hit a three-pointer from the left wing with 25 seconds left that put the Cyclones on top 43-42.

Frazier, also a post player, drew a foul on a rebound with 6.2 seconds to go and gave Louisburg the lead by making both free throws.

After a Louisburg time out to set up its defense, Miller drove through it anyway and managed to get a layup off just before the horn sounded. However, it bounced off the back of the rim and no one could get control of it before the final horn sounded.

"Louisburg has a couple of post (O'Hara and Frazier) players who are very solid," Armstrong says. "(It's) going to be a battle. I'm glad we get the opportunity to play one of them."

Lindsey Stacks, a 5' 5" junior guard, was the only player in double figures for Louisburg with 10 points. Taylor Brown, 5' 5" sophomore, had eight points and O'Hara had seven.

Kara McFarland led Ottawa with 13 points.

NOTES -- Columbus' girls came thisclose to scoring one of the biggest upsets of the season after taking Labette County to the wire at the Girard Sub-State. But Kendra Frazier's stickback with about 10 seconds to go allowed the Grizzlies to escape with a 35-33 victory. Frazier had just 13 points in the game.

LCHS (20-2) will face Girard for the Sub-State title Saturday. Carly Twarog scored 17 points to lead the second-seeded Trojans (19-3) over Iola, 52-41, in the other semifinal....

The No. 1 seed is still alive at seven of the eight Class 4A Sub-States as are six of the eight No. 2 seeds....

Saturday night at Andale seeds 5 and 6 will be playing for the championship. No. 5 Clearwater (17-6) knocked off top-seeded Buhler (16-5) by a 43-37 score. No. 6 Andale (14-9) beat No. 2 Haven (17-5) by a 45-26 margin....

The only three teams to finish undefeated in the regular season in Class 4A (all of them 22-0) didn't experience too much of a scare Thursday. Abilene got by Lindsborg-Smoky Valley, 47-39, in its own Sub-State. Andover Central, also a Sub-State host, pounded Towanda-Circle, 73-42, and Colby beat Kingman, 53-33, in the Russell Sub-State....

Due to the transition from afternoon paper to morning paper that the Tribune, Nevada Daily Mail and the now Weekend Herald-Tribune will be making tonight, Saturday Sub-State results will be posted online only. The Tribune's Web site is www.fstribune.com. Click on "Sports," then look for the "Class 4A Sub-States" entry....

(3) BURLINGTON: Dunlop 1-2 0-0 2, Card 3-8 0-0 7, Masters 0-0 0-0 0, Kirchner 0-3 2-2 2, Kesler 2-7 0-0 4, E.Eddings 0-0 0-0 0, Barnhardt 3-8 0-0 6, Mingle 0-0 0-0 0, Freund 0-2 0-0 0, Davenport 0-0 0-0 0, H.Eddings 5-9 4-8 14. TOTALS: 14-39 6-10 35.

(2) FORT SCOTT: Gray 5-10 0-0 14, J.Allen 3-5 3-6 9, Cavin 0-0 0-0 0, Sharp 5-10 6-7 16, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0, Rienbolt 2-7 3-6 7, Hawkins 0-4 1-4 1, Bingesser 1-2 1-1 3, Collins 1-1 0-0 2, Dikeman 0-0 0-0 0, R.Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Meech 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-43 14-24 52.

Burlington...................... 5 13 7 10 -- 35

Fort Scott....................... 15 17 9 11 -- 52

Three-point field goals: Burlington 1-7 (Card 1-3, Dunlop 0-1, Kirchner 0-3), Fort Scott 4-8 (Gray 4-6, Shar 0-1, Rienbolt 0-1).

Total fouls: Burlington 19, Fort Scott 11. Fouled out: Barnhardt, H.Eddings. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: Burlington 20 (H.,Eddings 6), Fort Scott 35 (Sharp 8). Assists: Burlington 9 (Card 2, Barnhardt 2, H.Eddings 2), Fort Scott 10 (J.Allen 3, Sharp 3). Turnovers: Burlington 19, Fort Scott 19. Steals: Burlington 13 (Kirchner 5), Fort Scott 9 (J.Allen 2, Rienbolt 2). Blocked shots: Burlington 3 (Barnhardt 2), Fort Scott 2 (Sharp 2)

(4) OTTAWA: Graf 1 3-4 5, Black 0 0-2 0, Miller 1 2-4 5, Gentry 2 1-1 5, Ray 0 0-0 0, Diamond 0 0-0 0, Rusk 1 1-1 3, Hendrickson 1 2-4 5, McFarland 4 5-6 13, Peoples 2 3-5 7. TOTALS: 12 17-27 43.

(1) LOUISBURG: Shaffer 1 0-0 2, Danley 1 0-0 3, Mulich 2 0-1 6, Stacks 3 2-2 10, Beckman 0 0-0 0, O'Hara 3 1-1 7, Brown 3 2-2 8, Noble 1 0-0 3, Frazier 0 5-11 5. TOTALS: 14 10-17 44.

Ottawa............... 10 8 10 15 -- 43

Louisburg............ 22 7 11 4 -- 44

Three-point field goals: Ottawa 2 (Miller, Hendrickson), Louisburg 6 (Stacks 3, Mulich 2, Danley, Noble.

Total fouls: Ottawa 15, Louisburg 18. Fouled out: McFarland. Technical fouls: none.