Sharp's 34 leads 'Hound women to division win

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Jolee Sharp's college-high 34 points -- including some key free throws in the final 15 seconds -- led Fort Scott Community College's women to a 73-70 victory over Labette in Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play at Arnold Arena Wednesday night.

In a very physical game -- 41 fouls were called -- Sharp got the brunt of the physicality with roughly 12 minutes left in the contest when she got a bloody nose courtesy of a flying elbow. She had to come out, of course, and when she returned she had to don a clean uniform.

She also came back with determination. With both of Fort Scott's post players saddled with four fouls each and the Cardinals threatening to pull away, Sharp's return sparked her team.

The Fort Scott High graduate nailed back-to-back 3-point shots about a minute apart to give the Greyhounds (2-7 East, 7-13 overall) a 64-62 lead with 2:44 remaining.

"I was thinking that I've got to get back to what I was doing before," Sharp said. "I felt I was finally having a decent game."

Fort Scott was up 70-66 with 52 seconds remaining after Cheyanne Ivy made two free throws. Chamiya Reaves -- who had sparked Labette (2-7, 7-14) in the first half -- brought the Cards within 2 with 40 seconds left.

Then things got a little odd. First, on a scramble for a loose ball, Sharp and Labette's Raven Taylor were both called for technical fouls while trying to get up after the play. It looked as though Sharp just tried to let Taylor get up but the Labette player wanted to shove around a little. How Sharp got a technical can only be determined by asking the official who assessed it.

No free throws were shot because the technicals were offsetting, but Labette had possession on the held ball. However, Reaves turned it back over to Fort Scott when she traveled with 28 seconds left.

On the inbound play, Fort Scott's Kate Atherton was called for an illegal screen, which gave the ball back to Labette. Under a new rule put in place this season, no free throws were shot because the ball was not in play.

Jataeva Arnold stole the ball on the inbound play. The ball got to Brittany Pearl, who was intentionally fouled with 21 seconds to go. She missed both free throws, but the Greyhounds still had possession. Finally, Sharp was fouled with 15 seconds left and made both free throws to make it a 72-68 lead.

Labette's Breanna Robertson scored with 8 seconds left and the Cardinals fouled. Sharp made the first free throw but missed the second. Labette got the rebound and the ball found its way to Charlene Symonette, who faked a 3-point shot to lure a defender in the air.

However, forgetting her team was down 73-70, Symonette then drove inside the arc and released a 2-point shot that would not have counted had it gone in.

Reaves finished with 23 points for Labette, which rallied from an early 18-6 deficit to take a 34-29 lead at halftime. Shawnee Phillips added 17 points.

Fort Scott shot 62 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 57 percent on 24 of 42. The 'Hounds also made 21 of 32 free-throw attempts.


LABETTE: Dickey 1-2 0-0 3, Phillips 7-14 3-4 17, Lutz 0-2 1-2 1, Taylor 2-9 1-4 5, Robinson 4-7 2-2 10, Roberts 2-4 0-0 4, Symonette 3-10 1-2 7, Reaves 10-18 2-2 23, Carr 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29-66 10-16 70.

FORT SCOTT: Atherton 3-5 0-2 6, Pearl 3-3 1-3 7, McKenzie 2-5 1-3 5, Sharp 9-16 12-14 34, Lewis 3-6 1-2 7, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0, Ivy 2-3 4-6 8, Bradley 0-0 0-0 0, Arnold 2-4 2-2 6. TOTALS: 24-42 21-32 73.

Halftime: Labette, 34-29.

Three-point field goals: Labette 2-9 (Dickey 1-2, Reaves 1-2, Lutz 0-2, Taylor 0-3), Fort Scott 4-7 (Sharp 4-5, Atherton 0-1, Ivy 0-1).

Total fouls: Labette 24, Fort Scott 15. Fouled out: Phillips, Reaves, Lewis. Technical fouls: Taylor, Sharp.

Rebounds: Labette 31 (Taylor 9), Fort Scott 34 (Lewis 8). Assists: Labette 13 (Taylor 3, Reaves 3), Fort Scott 15 (Pearl 7). Turnovers: Labette 17, Fort Scott 24. Steals: Labette 13 (Reaves 4), Fort Scott 7 (Sharp 4). Blocked shots: Labette 1 (Lutz), Fort Scott 1 (Sharp).