Tiger girls keep pace in SEK race

Fort Scott sophomore Abby Denton (11) goes for a layup over Chanute's Paige Kidwell during Tuesday night's game at the FSHS gymnasium. Denton scored 8 points and dished 5 assists in the Tigers' 58-46 win over Chanute, their 16th straight home victory. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Though Fort Scott High's girls did not lose as many players to suspension as the boys' team did, head coach Jeff Armstrong still had to make adjustments Tuesday night without one starter and one of his top reserves.

Due to the suspensions, senior Brianne Lawrence is the only true post player left. And she's still not quite 100-percent back from her hamstring injury.

But if anything, the Tigers know how to adjust as several players have missed some time with an injury this season. And they were able to do what they needed to do to beat Chanute, 58-46, in Southeast Kansas League play for their 16th consecutive home victory.

"It takes special people to step up in these kinds of moments and they were able to step up and play some of their best basketball," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong said.

The Tigers (9-2 SEK, 15-4 overall) kept pace with Coffeyville (also 9-2, 15-4) in the league race. The Golden Tornado beat rival Independence, 68-52, as a tie remains on top of the ladder going into Thursday night.

The defending champion Tigers will travel to Pittsburg while Coffeyville will be at home against Parsons as the top two teams in the league face the bottom two.

Chanute (7-5, 12-8) finishes regular-season and league play tied for third with Independence.

Chanute led 12-8 just over two minutes into the second quarter. But the Tigers got going with a Maddi Allen 3-point shot. Allen also scored the last basket of the half off a Katren Rienbolt steal as Fort Scott took an 18-17 lead.

The Tigers scored 8 of the first 11 of the second half. But the Comets got back within 26-25 on a Madi Rollins 3-pointer with 4:13 to go.

Ashley Cook then caught fire, hitting a 3-pointer from the right wing as she scored all of Fort Scott's points the rest of the quarter while the Tigers shut Chanute down. A pull-up 3-pointer from the right wing with 5 seconds to go made it 36-25 and gave her 15 points in that quarter.

Lawrence converted a 3-point play to start the fourth quarter. Chanute got a free throw but Rienbolt and Cook scored to make it 43-26 with 4:58 left.

Abby Denton made 4 free throws and Allen scored on a wide-open layup to push the lead to 49-31 with 3:12 to go. Chanute had to start fouling to try to save time but the closest the Comets could get was 53-42 with 1:01 left.

Cook finished with 19 points as she made 7 of 10 field-goal tries. Allen added 12 points while Lawrence finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Denton handed out 5 assists.

Anna Bagshaw led Chanute with 16 points. Rollins scored 13 and Paige Kidwell 10.

The Tigers will finish the regular season at Pittsburg Thursday.

CHANUTE: Martin 1-3 0-0 2, Bagshaw 5-10 2-4 16, Thompson 0-4 0-0 0, Batten 2-7 0-0 5. P.Kidwell 4-7 2-2 10, Schoenberger 0-1 0-0 0, Rollins 5-11 2-2 13. TOTALS: 17-43 6-8 46.

FORT SCOTT: Shoemaker 0-1 0-2 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Denton 1-4 6-8 8, Allen 5-11 0-2 12, Rienbolt 2-10 5-6 9, Cook 7-10 2-2 19, Lawrence 4-5 2-4 10. TOTALS: 119-41 15-24 58

Fort Scott........... 8 10 18 22 -- 58

Three-point field goals: Chanute 6-15 (Bagshaw 4-9, Batten 1-2, Rollins 1-2, Thompson 0-2), Fort Scott 5-14 (Cook 3-6, Allen 2-2, Denton 0-1, Rienbolt 0-5).

Total fouls: Chanute 17, Fort Scott 10. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Chanute 27 (Kidwell 12), Fort Scott 27 (Lawrence 8). Assists: Chanute 6 (Batten 3), Fort Scott 11 (Denton 5). Turnovers: Chanute 13, Fort Scott 7. Steals: Chanute 3 (Martin, Thompson, Batten), Fort Scott 5 (Denton 2, Rienbolt 2). Blocked shots: Chanute none, Fort Scott 3 (Lawrence 2).