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GoogleRamell Taylor scored 2 1 points to lead the Greyhounds (2-3), scoring a go-ahead bucket on a drive with 5:51 left to put the 'Hounds ahead, 51-50, with 5:41 remaining. A minute later, Bryce Kemp's stickback put Fort Scott up by 3.
Those would be the last two scores by either of Fort Scott's sophomores. Kemp was playing just his second game of the season after missing the first four with academic issues. Taylor, who also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals, may have just tired after carrying the Greyhounds for most of the game.
Fort Scott's only score in the final 4:40 came with 3 seconds left in the contest.
Taylor worked on his game and physical conditioning over the summer. But even that can only take a team so far.
"I think the guys are relying on him a little bit too much," Fort Scott head coach Michael Cook said. "When we run a play, we look for the first option with Ramell (but) we have four other options out there. We need to learn to trust each other. But when you get comfortable with success, you don't want to try anything else. They wanted to stay with what Ramell was doing. We talked about that in a time out. We're going to need help from everybody else. And we have to let him do other things too. He rebounds well and he plays defense and there's other parts of the game we have to rely on him to do, too."
The teams traded baskets in the early going before NOC-Enid (5-1) went on a 13-2 run powered by four 3-point goals to go up 21-10 with 9:42 remaining in the first half. Fort Scott prevented the Jets from turning the game into a blowout with a 7-3 run of its own to stay within 24-17 with 3:10 left.
The Jets held a 32-23 lead at halftime. Fort Scott's defense stepped up in the second half as Enid went from 52-percent first-half shooting to just 42 percent in the second half (0 for 5 from 3-point range). The 'Hounds also committed just 2 turnovers in the second half to help themselves.
The Greyhounds held the Jets without a field goal for nearly 6 minutes as they came back to take a 45-44 lead on a Taylor basket with 9:37 remaining.
Caleb Brown, who hit a pair of key triples in Friday night's victory over State Fair, tied the score again at 48-48 with a 3-pointer with 7:11 left.
"We got back in it by doing what we do best, playing as a team," Cook said. "The last 5 minutes, we became individuals again. We didn't block out and we didn't hit our free throws. We didn't execute well with our play calling at the end. That falls on me and we'll fix that.
"I liked the growth we're showing. We fought back the last two nights but we have to learn to close out a game."
Kemp added 11 points for the Greyhounds while Nathaniel Ward finished with 10 points and a team-leading 9 rebounds. But while Taylor went 10 of 15 from the floor, the rest of the team made only 12 of 33 shots from the floor. The 'Hounds also made only 9 of 17 free throws after shooting around 70 percent in most of their other games this season.
Ben Smith led Enid with 16 points while Spencer Smith added 12 and Juleous Grant had 11. The Jets shot 48 percent for the game on 22 of 46.
Rebounds were even at 29-29. Fort Scott had just 11 turnovers to Enid's 15.
The Greyhounds are off until Friday when they go to Liberal for the Seward County Classic. They will take on Redlands (Okla.) at 4 p.m. Friday and Clarendon (Texas) at the same time Saturday.
FORT SCOTT: Mason 0-0 0-0 0, Kemp 3-9 4-7 11, Hatcher 2-4 0-0 4, Brown 1-4 0-0 3, Taylor 10-15 1-2 21, Addison 0-1 0-0 0, Ward 3-7 4-8 10, McCoy 2-2 0-0 4, Hanson 0-1 0-0 0, Gougler 1-5 0-0 2. TOTALS: 22-48 9-17 55.
NORTHERN OKLAHOMA-ENID: Cungious 1-4 2-4 4, Ruffin 0-2 0-0 0, Guillory 0-0 0-0 0, B.Smith 5-10 5-5 16, Simmons 3-4 0-1 6, Grant 4-7 2-2 11, Hearn 0-1 2-2 2, Patterson 2-5 1-2 7, S.Smith 5-10 2-4 12, Candyfire 2-3 0-0 4. TOTALS: 22-46 14-20 62.
Halftime: NOC-Enid, 32-23.
Total fouls: Fort Scott 20, NOC-Enid 14. Fouled out: Taylor, Ward. Technical fouls: None.
Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 2-14 (Brown 1-4, Kemp 1-5, Hatcher 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Gougler 0-3), NOC-Enid 4-12 (Patterson 2-5, B.Smith 1-2, Grant 1-2, Ruffin 0-1, Hearn 0-1, S.Smith 0-1).
Rebounds: Fort Scott 29 (Taylor 9), NOC-Enid 29 (B.Smith 8). Assists: Fort Scott 4 (Kemp 2), NOC-Enid 10 (Patterson 3). Turnovers: Fort Scott 11, NOC-Enid 15. Steals: Fort Scott 6 (Taylor 2, McCoy 2), NOC-Enid 5 (5 with 1 each). Blocked shots: Fort Scott 1 (Kemp), NOC-Enid none.