FSHS holds on for victory

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Fort Scott's Brittany Bingesser puts pressure on Iola's Brittney Jacobs (14) on the press during first-half action Tuesday night. The Tigers took a 44-37 win over the Fillies in Southeast Kansas League play. (Captured Images/Kenny Felt)

Fort Scott High's girls remained unbeaten in Southeast Kansas League play after taking a 44-37 win over Iola Tuesday night.

The Tigers (5-0 SEK, 6-2 overall) had to hold on for their sixth straight victory as they went without a field goal in the game's final 14 minutes. Iola (2-3, 2-4) outscored the Tigers 23-12 in that time as Fort Scott's free throw-shooting (11 of 19) was enough to hold off the Fillies.

Despite the rally, Iola never got closer than five points. That was after Brittany Jacobs' three-point shot brought the Fillies within 40-35 with 50 seconds remaining.

"For us to be successful and win, we have to play extremely good defense to keep teams below 40," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong said. "So, you're never going to have major blowouts. But the girls did what they needed to do to get the win. They were able to get focused at the free-throw line, which was huge since we didn't have any field goals in the fourth quarter."

Jolee Sharp had a double-double for the Tigers as she scored 17 points and hauled down 10 rebounds. Kori Page Rienbolt added 11 points and Monica Dikeman, back from a knee injury, chipped in with seven.

Sharp's three-point goal with 2:58 left in the first period sparked a 9-3 run that saw the Tigers up 16-12 going into the second quarter.

The second started off at an extremely sluggish pace before Sharp's steal and layup sparked a 7-0 run to end the half. Rienbolt assisted on the other two baskets, a layup by Rachel Allen and an "old-fashioned" three-point play by Megan McDermed with three seconds remaining. That put the Tigers up 25-14 going into the break.

Fort Scott's momentum continued into the early part of the third period as the Tigers scored the first eight points. Another Sharp steal taken in for a layup made it a 33-14 game with 6:14 to go in the quarter.

That was Fort Scott's last field goal. Jenna Sigg -- who led the Fillies with 12 points -- started Iola's rally with a layup.

By the end of the third, Iola was within 35-23. Sharp made three of four free throws to start the fourth but Sigg took a steal in for a layup herself. Kelsey Larson then followed with a three-pointer and Sigg scored a pair of layups to bring Iola within 38-32 with 3:11 to go.

The Tigers shot only 38 percent from the field, making 14 of 40 field-goal attempts but held the Fillies to 36 percent on 15 of 42.

The Tigers dominated the boards, 36-22. Rienbolt and McDermed each had five.

The Tigers committed 22 turnovers to Iola's 21. Sharp had five of Fort Scott's 13 steals and also blocked three shots.

Fort Scott travels to Girard Friday night for what is expected to be a hotly-contested non-league match. The Trojans beat Independence Tuesday night, 64-63, after converting a three-point play with less than two seconds remaining in the contest, played at Independence.

IOLA: Faulhaber 0-1 0-0 0, K.Larson 1-5 0-0 3, Honeycutt 3-10 0-0 6, Wilson 1-4 1-1 3, Jacobs 2-2 0-0 5, Muslow 1-1 0-0 2, Callahan 1-3 1-2 3, Sigg 5-10 2-2 12, McGuffin 0-1 0-0 0, M.Larson 1-5 1-1 3. TOTALS: 15-42 5-8 37.

FORT SCOTT: Sharp 5-6 6-8 17, Therwhanger 0-4 0-0 0, R.Allen 1-1 0-0 2, Carpenter 0-1 0-0 0, Rienbolt 4-12 3-7 11, Bingesser 1-3 0-0 2, Dikeman 2-8 3-4 7, McDermed 2-5 1-2 5, Collins 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15-40 13-21 44.

Iola......................... 12 2 9 14 -- 37

Fort Scott................ 16 9 10 9 -- 44

Three-point field goals: Iola 2-4 (K.Larson 1-1, Jacobs 1-1, Wilson 0-1, Sigg 0-1), Fort Scott 1-2 (Sharp 1-1, Dikeman 0-1).

Total fouls: Iola 20, Fort Scott 11. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: Iola 22 (Honeycutt, M.Larson 4 each), Fort Scott 36 (Sharp 10). Assists: Iola 6 (K.Larson, Honeycutt 2 each), Fort Scott 8 (Rienbolt 4). Turnovers: Iola 21, Fort Scott 22. Steals: Iola 10 (Honeycutt 4), Fort Scott 13 (Sharp 5). Blocked shots: Iola 1 (Honeycutt), Fort Scott 4 (Sharp 3).


JUNIOR VARSITY -- Mallory Shelton led the Tigers with 10 points but the Tigers lost to Iola, 55-33. Jenna Campbell and Kori Allen each added seven for Fort Scott.


FRESHMEN -- The Tigers (0-6) lost to Iola, 48-28. Kristin Allen scored seven points and had eight rebounds for Fort Scott. Emily Matkin and Ashley Allen each scored six.