Stuffed Buffs: Tigers take control during second quarter to advance in Sub-State

Fort Scott's Alex Barner (44) throws down after blocking a shot, gathering in the loose ball and taking it to the other end for a dunk that kicked off a 13-0 run to end the first half and give the Tigers control during an Ottawa Class 4A Sub-State first-round game Monday night at the FSHS gymnasium. The Tigers went on to beat Prairie View, 59-31. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images) [Click to enlarge]

Then, about a minute and a half into the second quarter, senior Alex Barner blocked a Prairie View jumper, gathered in the loose ball and took it all the way to the other end for a crowd-pumping dunk that started a 13-0 run to end the first half.

From the point of the dunk onward, the Tigers (14-7) outscored Prairie View 34-16 and went on to a 59-31 victory, their seventh in a row.

Fort Scott's Griffin Knopp (white jersey) weaves his way between Prairie View defenders Peter Dokos (30, black jersey) and an unidentified teammate during the first quarter of action. Knopp scored eight of his 10 points in the period as the Tigers fought to keep pace with the visiting Buffalos. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images) [Click to enlarge]

"When plays like that happen, that's a momentum turner," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "And we were just kind of waiting for something to happen and when it did, they called time out and we talked in the huddle about capitalizing on that stuff."

The Buffalos (6-14) scored six of the game's first eight points and were leading 15-14 less than a minute into the second period after back-to-back baskets by Mark Whitworth and Peter Dokos.

Griffin Knopp, who helped keep the Tigers in the game with eight points in the first quarter, made one of two free throws to tie the score at 15-15 with 6:58 to go in the period.

Not only did Barner's dunk spark the offense, it also kick-started the defense. Prairie View was able to score just a pair of free throws during a drought that lasted almost exactly 12 minutes. It wasn't until the 3:07 mark of the third quarter that another Dokos basket broke what ended up being a 23-2 run. The Tigers were leading 38-19 at that point.

Fort Scott also didn't commit a second-half turnover until there were fewer than two minutes remaining in the game and coughed it up only seven times the entire game. The Buffs turned the ball over 21 times.

The Tigers will play Osawatomie Thursday night at Ottawa in one of the tournament semifinal games. The Trojans (14-7) defeated Paola, 52-47, Monday night.

NOTES -- The Tigers didn't have a chance to celebrate winning a share of the Southeast Kansas League title Thursday night because they didn't know yet that Parsons had beaten Labette County.

DeLaTorre said, "I e-mailed (Parsons coach) Mike Krull on Friday and thanked him and he had a good comment: 'We helped you but you guys helped yourselves by the way you played down the stretch'."...

(7) PRAIRIE VIEW: Hines 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Claar 1-6 0-0 2, Cornejo 2-10 4-4 9, Kees 1-3 0-0 3, Dokos 3-7 0-2 6, Whitworth 3-4 1-2 7, Phillips 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 12-34 5-8 31.

(2) FORT SCOTT: Quick 1-4 0-0 2, Hull 1-1 0-0 2, King 1-1 0-0 2, Karleskint 0-2 0-0 0, Floyd 5-9 0-0 10, Clements 2-6 0-0 4, Knopp 4-6 2-4 10, Harper 0-1 0-0 0, Norris 1-3 0-0 2, Schenkel 2-4 0-0 5, Barner 8-17 3-5 19, Fancher 1-2 1-4 3. TOTALS: 26-56 6-13 59.

Prairie View....... 11 4 6 10 -- 31

Fort Scott.......... 14 14 16 15 -- 59

Three-point field goals: Prairie View 2-11 (Kees 1-2, Cornejo 1-6, Hines 0-1, Brown 0-1, Claar 0-1), Fort Scott 1-6 (Schenkel 1-1, Quick 0-1, Floyd 0-1, Barner 0-1, Clements 0-2).

Total fouls: Prairie View 14, fort Scott 10. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: Prairie View 26 (Dokos 9), Fort Scott 34 (Barner 12). Assists: Prairie View 2 (Brown, Whitworth), Fort Scott 15 (Schenkel 4). Turnovers: Prairie View 21, Fort Scott 7. Steals: Prairie View 3 (Kees 2), Fort Scott 16 (Clements, Schenkel 4 each). Blocked shots: Prairie View none, Fort Scott 4 (Knopp 2).