Fort Scott boys score 38th straight victory over Iola

Herald-Tribune

FORT SCOTT -- Visiting Iola made things tough for about 11 minutes here Friday night but Fort Scott High's boys ended the second quarter with a 19-2 run and went on to defeat the Mustangs for the 38th consecutive time, 63-32.

Iola's last victory over Fort Scott came in 1985.

But the Mustangs came out with some tough defense, holding the Tigers to just 3-of-11 field-goal shooting in the first quarter. That allowed the Mustangs to stay within 10-9.

Griffin Knopp scored the first 3 points of the second but Iola answered with 6 straight, Seth Walden's steal for a layup giving the Mustangs a 14-13 lead with 5:46 to go in the period.

"It was kind of a weird start to the game," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "It seemed like we were a little bit out of sync early on. But you hand it to Iola; they came out and played hard. They were pretty active on defense."

The Tigers (10-5 SEK, 12-7 overall) held Iola without a field goal the rest of the half. Meanwhile, the offense began to stir with a Knopp layup sparking the half-ending run with 4:49 remaining. Knopp scored 12 of his game-high 15 points in the period as he made 5 of 5 shots from the field in the period. The Tigers led 32-17 at the half.

Fort Scott kept adding to the margin in the third period with a late 9-0 run making it 51-25 before the Mustangs scored 3 free throws in the last 21 seconds.

After Gary Floyd scored a transition basket to start the final stanza for the Tigers, both teams went with reserve players the rest of the way. Iola didn't score in the game's final 2:58.

The Tigers made 21 of 34 field-goal tries (62 percent) in the final three periods while holding Iola (3-11, 5-13) to 6 of 25 (24 percent). The Mustangs had only 9 field goals for the night and Kent Toland, with 10 points, was their only double-figure scorer.

Floyd added 10 points for the Tigers, who outrebounded Iola 32-26. Four players -- Floyd, Mikey Karleskint, Matt Wright and Jeremy Hill -- had 4 rebounds each. Karleskint dished 3 assists and Cody Harper finished with 3 steals.

The Tigers still have a chance to finish in second place in the SEK. Coffeyville (13-1, 15-2) clinched the league title with a 53-52 victory over Parsons Friday night. The Vikings dropped to 9-5, 13-5, and into fourth place following their third consecutive loss

"Parsons is in a tough stretch," DeLaTorre said. "They played against Independence (last Saturday) and lost by like four points and then lost to us. And they play Pittsburg Tuesday. Things in that two through four spot in the league is shaping up to be interesting."

Pittsburg (10-4, 14-4) moved into second place by itself with a 49-46 overtime victory over Chanute. Fort Scott is in third place.

Coffeyville is at home against Iola Tuesday while Parsons has to travel to Pittsburg. Fort Scott doesn't play again until hosting Coffeyville to end the season Thursday night.

In Sub-State seeding, the Tigers were able to keep their chances of having a first-round home game alive. They are tied for the No. 3 seed with Spring Hill, which defeated Baldwin, 59-46, Friday night. Louisburg was a half-game behind both teams with a 10-7 record heading into Friday night's game at home against Paola but no result was available at press time.

Spring Hill, like Fort Scott, doesn't play again until Thursday when it travels to Eudora. Louisburg plays at Lenexa St. James Academy Tuesday night and at DeSoto Friday.

In Friday's junior varsity contest, Fort Scott routed Iola 83-37. Cameron Woodring led the Tigers with 20 points. Kyle Altic added 18 and Daniel Durbin finished with 11.