Offensive drought continues for 'Hounds

Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Fort Scott's Jalen Carter (13) looks to shoot over State Fair's Torres Roundtree during the first half of play Tuesday night at Arnold Arena. Carter and the Greyhounds did not enjoy a good shooting night, making only 25 percent of their field-goal attempts in a 63-40 loss to the Roadrunners. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

Fort Scott Community College's offensive slump continued Tuesday night as the Greyhounds came within 52 seconds of setting a school record of futility in a 63-40 loss to State Fair (Mo.)

Montrell King's transition layup allowed Fort Scott (0-5) to avoid setting a new record for fewest points scored in the shot-clock era. However, the 40 points the Greyhounds ended up with is still the second-fewest.

Since scoring 90 points in an overtime loss to Redlands in last week's season opener, the Greyhounds have averaged just 46 points per game.

"I think the reason we scored 90 against Redlands is because we pushed the ball," Fort Scott head coach Michael Cook said. "Tonight, we walked it up. They played zone; we didn't solve it. We didn't go inside-out; we just shot 3's. And if you're settling for 3-point shots, the odds are you're not going to turn in a good score."

Fort Scott made just 1 of 26 3-point attempts on the night. The 'Hounds didn't make the inside game a credible threat as they kept passing the ball around the perimeter. State Fair (3-0) didn't have to collapse on the posts when it was in a zone and didn't have to double down to help the post when it was in man-to-man.

That allowed the Roadrunners to keep a hand in the shooter's face. A team can shoot 26 3-point shots -- that's not the problem. But when it's shooting 26 contested 3-pointers, the evidence demonstrates that it's not going to make very many of them.

"We want to penetrate and pass," Cook said. "We just played a perimeter game and passed to the top three guys instead of penetrating the gaps."

State Fair used its transition game with great success in building a 13-5 lead with 13:52 remaining in the first half.

Fort Scott was able to whittle the lead back down to 4 at 15-11 but then the Roadrunners lived up to their nickname and scored 9 straight with the aid of the transition game.

State Fair's defense held Fort Scott without a field goal for over 10 minutes until Teance Walton hit a shot with 1:18 remaining in the half. Creed Flowers stuck back a teammate's miss eight seconds later to bring the margin down to 24-17 before SFCC's Torres Roundtree scored with 2 seconds left in the half.

A 19-2 run in the second half boosted the Roadrunners' lead to 47-23 with 11:19 remaining and with the way the 'Hounds were shooting, that effectively put the game out of reach.

Fort Scott hit 57 percent of its total shots and 52 percent of its 3-pointers against Redlands. Since then, the 'Hounds have shot 27 percent from the field and just 15 percent from 3-point range.

"The first game was very deceptive," Cook said. "Sometimes we're settling for that (outside shot) now. But what worked for us that game is not going to work for us every game that way."

King and Robert Mason had 9 points each for the 'Hounds, who shot 25 percent from the floor on 15 of 60. Roundtree led State Fair with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting while Alfonzo Houston scored 11 points.

The Greyhounds will take part in the Allen County Classic this weekend in Iola.


STATE FAIR: Mims 1-1 0-0 2, Claggett 0-3 0-0 0, Orr 3-4 0-0 9, Wilson 0-0 1-2 1, Hunter 3-7 0-0 7, Newton 3-13 3-3 9, Toric 1-5 1-2 3, Roundtree 7-10 0-2 15, Houston 5-8 0-1 11, Webb 2-8 2-2 6. TOTALS: 25-59 7-12 63.

FORT SCOTT: Barner 0-4 0-0 0, Mason 4-12 0-0 9, Floyd 2-11 3-4 7, King 4-7 1-2 9, Stephens 0-3 0-0 0, Mills 0-1 0-0 0, Carter 1-6 2-2 4, Trost 0-0 0-2 0, Hayes 0-2 0-2 0, Walton 2-8 3-6 7, Flowers 2-6 0-0 4. TOTALS: 15-60 9-18 40.

Halftime: State Fair, 26-17.

Three-point field goals: State Fair 6-19 (Orr 3-4, Roundtree 1-2, Houston 1-2, Hunter 1-4, Toric 0-3, Newton 0-4), Fort Scott 1-26 (Mason 1-9, Stephens 0-1, King 0-3, Walton 0-3, Flowers 0-4, Floyd 0-6).

Total fouls: State Fair 18, Fort Scott 17. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: State Fair 49 (Roundtree 9), Fort Scott 39 (Walton 11). Assists: State Fair 13 (Roundtree 6), Fort Scott 6 (Walton 3). Turnovers: State Fair 19, Fort Scott 15. Steals: State Fair 9 (Houston 3), Fort Scott 7 (Walton 2). Blocked shots: State Fair none, Fort Scott 2 (Barner, Hayes).