Dragons take control early

Fort Scott's Gary Floyd (23) drives on Pittsburg's Zack Young during the first half of play Thursday night at the FSHS gymnasium. Folyd scored 18 points for the Tigers but Pittsburg took a 55-45 victory. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images) [Click to enlarge]

A 9-0 run midway through the first quarter was enough to give visiting Pittsburg the momentum it need to take a 55-45 victory over Fort Scott High in a Southeast Kansas League make-up game at the FSHS gymnasium Thursday night.

Gary Floyd, playing with an injured elbow, scored the Tigers' first 4 points and Jonathan Stark's 3-pointer put Fort Scott up 7-5 with exactly five minutes left in the first quarter.

Bryan Mendez started Pittsburg's run and Josh Reed ended with on a driving layup to put the Purple Dragons (7-3 SEK, 11-3 overall) up 14-7. The Tigers (6-4, 8-6) never led again although they would fight back more than once to get within three or four points.

"It felt like we couldn't catch a break," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "But a lot of times, you make your own breaks. They found ways to get into position where they ball was going to bounce to them and we kind of let them do that."

Floyd injured the elbow in Tuesday night's game at Labette County and played with a wrap and a thin elbow pad. He still led the Tigers with 18 points but he was only 9 of 24 from the field and was unable to hit a 3-pointer (0 for 9).

"He gutted it out," DeLaTorre said. "He was bothered by it all game. But he's such a competitor that he wanted to keep going. Hindsight, maybe it would have been nice to rest him a little bit more. But I'm a competitor, too, and we all wanted to battle and come back and we were still in the game."

The Tigers got within 21-18 with 2:04 left in the second quarter on layups by Cody Harper and Griffin Knopp. But The Dragons, who are ranked No. 6 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, extended the lead to 7 at the half.

Floyd brought the Tigers within 32-29 with 2:25 left in the third on a driving layup. He was fouled on the play but couldn't make the free throw.

Pittsburg made half of its field-goal tries (20 of 40) while holding Fort Scott to 38 percent on 20 of 52.

Blake Wilson led the Dragons, who have won 11 of 12 after an 0-2 start to the season, with 18 points while Reed finished with 12.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Four Tigers reached double figures as the junior varsity took a 56-43 victory over Pittsburg. Matt Wright led the way with 16 points followed by Luke Brown with 12, Cameron Woodring with 11 and Jaret Thorpe with 10.

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PITTSBURG: Reed 4-6 2-2 12, Wilson 6-15 5-6 18, Elliott 4-7 0-3 9, Mendez 4-5 0-0 8, Schoonover 1-3 2-4 4, Younge 1-3 2-3 4, Clark 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-40 11-18 55.

FORT SCOTT: Stark 2-8 0-0 5, Quick 1-2 0-0 3, Hull 0-0 0-0 0, Karleskint 1-1 0-0 2, Floyd 9-24 0-3 18, Knopp 3-6 0-0 8, Harper 3-9 0-0 8, Fancher 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20-52 1-7 45.

Three-point field goals: Pittsburg 4-9 (Reed 2-4, Elliott 1-2, Wilson 1-3), Fort Scott 4-23 (Harper 2-7, Quick 1-2, Stark 1-5, Floyd 0-9).

Total fouls: Pittsburg 10, Fort Scott 14. Fouled out: Floyd. Technical fouls: None.

Rebounds: Pittsburg 37 (Schoonover 8), Fort Scott 25 (Knopp 6). Assists: Pittsburg 6 (Younge 3), Fort Scott 7 (Floyd 2, Harper 2). Turnovers: Pittsburg 13, Fort Scott 6. Steals: Pittsburg 4 (Reed 2), Fort Scott 9 (Floyd 3). Blocked shots: Pittsburg 1 (Elliott), Fort Scott 1 (Knopp).