'Hounds down Pirates, 70-64

Saturday, December 13, 2014
Fort Scott sophomore Andrea Valadez (23) beat North Central Missouri defender Madison Winters for this basket early in the first half of Friday night's game. Valadez scored 18 points for the Greyhounds in a 70-64 victory over the Pirates. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

Sophomore Andrea Valadez led Fort Scott Community College's women with a season-best 18 points Friday night as the Greyhounds concluded the first semester of play with a 70-64 victory over North Central Missouri at Arnold Arena.

Valadez and Carlie Wilhelmi, who scored 16 off the bench, combined to score each of Fort Scott's last 14 points of the first half as the 'Hounds (9-6) took a 32-27 lead into the locker room. Valadez scored 7 of the first 10 in that run while Wilhelmi scored the last 5, sticking back a teammate's miss with two seconds to go.

Valadez connected on 6 of 7 shots from the field in the first half for 13 points.

"She got out and pushed the ball early on and that really helped our momentum," Fort Scott head coach Katie Reihmann said.

Valadez, a 5-8 wing, and Wilhelmi, a 6-2 post, offered up an inside-outside combo North Central (6-8) couldn't deal with. The two combined to make 15 of 17 shots on the night.

Kamiron Luptak added 16 points despite going 0-for-8 from 3-point range. She made up for that by going 8 of 9 at the free-throw line, grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing a team-high 5 assists.

Jessica McAdams and Baylea White also countered offensive woes -- a combined 2 of 17 from the field with both makes by White -- by each grabbing 10 of the Greyhounds' 46 rebounds.

"The team effort was the biggest thing," Reihmann said of Fort Scott's performance. "We maintained our energy and it was the first time we held our composure this year. All 11 players did a great job of helping each other out and communicating."

The Pirates, who are just 3-7 against other jucos, led 22-18 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half after Madison Winters took a steal in for a layup. Winters led NCMC with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Fort Scott never trailed in the second half. The Pirates got within 2 points twice early. But back-to-back hoops by Kayleigh Haggard capped a 6-0 run which made it 48-39 with 11:15 to go.


NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI: Buttorff 0-3 3-4 3, White 4-18 5-11 13, Hilda Santos 0-5 1-2 1, M.Williams 1-5 0-0 2, Glassford 1-1 0-0 3, Berwanger 0-3 1-2 1, Graham 2-5 1-2 5, Winters 7-14 2-2 19, Parton 5-9 3-4 13, Hefley 1-2 0-0 2, Graves 0-0 0-0 0, K.Williams 1-1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 22-66 16-27 64.

FORT SCOTT: Copeland 0-0 0-0 0,Luptak 4-16 8-9 16, Shoulders 1-6 2-2 5, McGuire 0-1 0-0 0, Haggard 2-5 1-2 5, White 2-11 0-0 4, Cicero 0-4 2-2 2, Valadez 8-9 1-3 18, McAdams 0-6 4-4 4, Wilhelmi 7-8 2-3 16. TOTALS: 25-66 20-25 70.

Halftime: Fort Scott, 32-27.

Three-point field goals: NCMC 4-14 (Winters 3-5, Glassford 1-1, Hilda Santos 0-1, M. Williams 0-1, Graham 0-1, Hefley 0-1, White 0-2, Berwanger 0-2), Fort Scott 2-16 (Valadez 1-1, Shoulders 1-4, Cicero 0-1, Haggard 0-2, Luptak 0-8).

Total fouls: NCMC 21, Fort Scott 21. Fouled out: Wilhelmi. Technical foul: White.

Rebounds: NCMC 46 (White 14, Winters 12), Fort Scott 46 (White 10, Wilhelmi 10). Assists: NCMC 9 (White 2, Hilda Santos 2), Fort Scott 13 (Luptak 5). Turnovers: NCMC 20, Fort Scott 17. Steals: NCMC 9 (Parton 3), Fort Scott 8 (Luptak 2, Haggard 2, Valadez 2). Blocked shots: NCMC none, Fort Scott 2 (White, Wilhelmi).