At long last: Greyhounds break 21-game losing streak; Barner, McCoy step up

Fort Scott's Robert Hatcher (11) drives by Labette's Travis Dupree during the first half of play at Arnold Arena Saturday afternoon. Hatcher scored 6 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Greyhounds in a 65-61 victory that broke a 21-game losing streak.
(Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

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Prior to this, Fort Scott had last won on November 20 when they beat Redlands (Okla.) in a game at Hutchinson. They had lost 10 straight home games and 17 consecutive conference games.

The Greyhounds (1-16 East, 4-25 overall) won't be able to avoid facing the top team in the Western Division in the first round of the Region VI Tournament next week. But they can go into that game with some confidence.

"The proverbial monkey's off the back," Fort Scott head coach Mike Cook said. "It was a little emotional with our two sophomores giving everything they had. Bryce (Kemp) played hard tonight with a bad leg. These guys are fighting. We've been close in a lot of games."

The 'Hounds have a week off before closing out the regular season Saturday at Kansas City Kansas. Then on March 3, they will go west to take on the Western Division champion, either Butler, Hutchinson or Seward County.

Though it was sophomore night -- the last home games for Kemp and Ramell Taylor -- is was the play of a pair of sophomores that paved the way in the first half. Alex Barner and Jamaal McCoy combined for 23 first-half points as the 'Hounds fought their way to a 31-31 tie, the first time they hadn't trailed at halftime in eight games.

Rebounding was a key. McCoy had 8 boards in the first half and Fort Scott outrebounded Labette 24-17. In the second half, the rebounding margin stayed the same. But Fort Scott's shooting touch improved while Labette started taking -- and missing -- a lot of shots.

"We're not big, so we have to block out," Cook said. "We've got it in us. There's three sayings: 'You can, you can't or you won't.' Tonight, I thought we could and we did it. I'm proud of the effort we have."

The Greyhounds scored 7 of the first 9 points of the second half but Labette (4-13, 9-19 after beating Highland Monday night) scored the next 7 to take a 40-38 lead with 13 minutes to go.

Chris Nelson tied the score one last time for Labette, 47-47, with 7:55 to go. The Cardinals never led again but stayed close enough despite their poor shooting to keep things interesting.

Larry Barber brought Labette within 59-58 off a Greyhound turnover with 31 seconds to go. But it was time to foul to conserve time and Taylor, then Robert Hatcher made both their free throws.

Gabe Crumpley hit his only basket of the game, a 3-pointer, to bring Labette within 63-61 with 6 1/2 seconds left. But Barner made both his free throws after a foul to make it a 4-point game.

Barner made 10 of 17 shots from the field and finished with 22 points. He also had 7 rebounds. McCoy added 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the game. Taylor, who had no field goals at halftime, scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half.

"It's key for Ramell to let the game come to him now," Cook said. "Everyone knows he can score and he's carried us a couple of games. It was the game plan to emphasize Jamaal and Alex because even though we're not taller, we are stronger inside. And to see them step up and have games like they did, I think it eased the pressure for Ramell. He accepted the role and that's part of being a team player."

Nelson led Labette with 21 points while Garland McArthur added 16.

Fort Scott made half its shots from the field in the second half and finished at 42 percent overall on 23 of 55. Labette made only 11 of 40 fielders in the second half (28 percent) and finished at 33 percent for the game on 22 of 67.

Fort Scott finished with a 48-35 rebounding advantage. Barner and Hatcher each had 7 rebounds for the 'Hounds. Robert Mason dished 5 assists and had 3 steals.

NOTES -- Fort Scott's last home victory prior to Saturday was February 18 of last season, making it two days over a full year since their last home win. On that day, the Greyhounds defeated Labette, 83-67....

The last conference victory for the 'Hounds was February 23, 2009, when they took an 81-68 victory at Highland....

The conference's longest losing streak, 15 games, now belongs to Colby, which is 0-15 in the Jayhawk West, last winning on November 28 when it beat Highland in a classic at Garden City. The Trojans will be the only junior-college team in Kansas that will not be involved in a playoff game this season.

Ironically, Colby started the season 4-0 and was 6-4 prior to the start of the losing streak....

LABETTE: Nelson 7-18 7-9 21, McArthur 5-15 6-8 16, Barber 4-10 0-0 9, Reed 0-1 0-0 0, Conley 1-5 0-0 4, Crumpley 1-5 0-0 3, Haywood 3-11 0-0 6, Dupree 1-2 0-0 2, Dawson 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22-67 15-19 61.

FORT SCOTT: Mason 1-3 2-5 4, Kemp 1-6 2-4 4, Hatcher 1-2 4-6 6, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor 4-12 4-4 13, Barner 10-17 2-2 22, McCoy 6-11 3-4 15, Gougler 0-3 1-2 1. TOTALS: 23-55 18-27 65.

Halftime: Tied, 31-31.

Three-point field goals: Labette 2-14 (Barber 1-3, Crumpley 1-4, Conley 0-2, Haywood 0-2, Nelson 0-3), Fort Scott 1-11 (Taylor 1-5, Brown 0-1, Gougler 0-2, Kemp 0-3).

Total fouls: Labette 20, Fort Scott 17. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.

Rebounds: Labette 35 (McArthur 7, Haywood 7), Fort Scott 48 (McCoy 15). Assists: Labette 6 (Haywood 3), Fort Scott 10 (Mason 5). Turnovers: Labette 13, Fort Scott 21. Steals: Labette 9 (Dupree 3), Fort Scott 6 (Mason 3). Blocked shots; Labette 2 (McArthur 2), Fort Scott 2 (Taylor, Barner).