Labette women prevail in OT
PARSONS --Labette outlasted the Fort Scott Community College's women here Saturday afternoon, winning in double overtime 96-86, to improve to 3-5 in the Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division and 12-11 overall
Fort Scott's women fell to 2-6 in the East and 11-12 overall. But more importantly, the Greyhounds remain winless (0-6) against Region VI Division II competition. This would make them the last seed if post-season tournament play began today. Labette, 3-4 in the region, is in the No. 4 position. Fort Scott has lost its last eight against Kansas Division II teams and 19 of its last 20 against those teams.
Freshman forward Morgan Harwood led all scorers with 26 points for Labette, while both Kamiron Luptak and Carlie Wilhelmi dropped in 14 for Fort Scott.
Fort Scott head coach Katie Reihmann was disappointed that, despite five players scoring in double figures, her squad fell short.
"It was a really back and forth game," Reihmann said. "It was disappointing (but) it was good to see everybody contribute. That's what it takes for us to compete."
Fort Scott's largest lead in the game was five points, and that came in the first overtime. The Cardinals' largest lead was an 11-point lead late in the second overtime.
In the first half alone, there were 11 lead changes and five ties.
Labette took a 14-11 lead six minutes into the game after Holly Ullery cashed in her third 3-pointer of the game.
Ullery and the rest of the Cardinals went cold from behind the arc in the rest of half though, allowing Fort Scott to dictate the pace of the game. Two straight 3-pointers from Sierra Shoulders of the Greyhounds, who finished with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, in the final three minutes of the first half gave Fort Scott a 30-26 lead -- their largest of the half.
However, Labette responded with a 7-0 run to end the first half, with buckets coming from Harwood, Dominique Thomas and Brittany Odom to send the Cardinals to the locker room with a 33-30 advantage.
A group of unlikely heroes on both sides began to emerge in the second half, as contributions from the bench proved to be difference maker in the contest.
A trey from Me'Shelle Parker -- who finished with just six points and averages just 11 minutes of playing time a game -- with 12 minutes on the clock swelled Labette's lead to seven points.
On the very next possession, the 'Hounds responded with a triple of their own, this time coming from Bret McGuire. That shot put Fort Scott back within four points.
Labette again put some padding to their lead soon after McGuire's shot as a 3-pointer from Jasi Adkison -- who averages just 3.7 points per game but poured in 11 against Fort Scott and was another unsung hero of Saturday's contest -- with 10 minutes to play got the Cardinals' lead to 54-46.
Out of the media timeout, Fort Scott responded by closing the gap. Five straight points off two layups and a foul shot by Andrea Valadez brought the score to 61-58 in favor of Labette.
In a game that was defined by its runs, the Cardinals went on another one as they looked to close out the Greyhounds.
A layup by Odom, who finished with 18 points, followed by four straight points from Harwood gave Labette a 67-58 lead with just under five minutes to go.
The Cardinals never scored again in regulation. With 38 seconds left, Labette leading 67-65 and with Fort Scott on a 7-0 run, Wilhelmi stepped to the line after being fouled on a shot and calmly buried two foul shots to tie the game at 67-67.
After a timeout by the Cardinals, Harwood took a pass from Odom in the short corner on a designed play and got an open look. Harwood's shot rimmed out, and the 'Hounds pounced on the rebound and called a timeout with seven seconds remaining.
Luptak took the inbound pass and was quickly pressed by Odom. As Luptak neared the half court line, she and Odom made contact with each other, sending Luptak to the hardwood.
Odom was called for a blocking foul, and Fort Scott was in the one-and-one bonus. Luptak would have a chance, with just mere seconds remaining, to essentially win the game for Fort Scott.
She didn't. Instead, Luptak clanked the front end of the one-and-one, and Thomas came down with the rebound to send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, two straight layups by Fort Scott -- both from Wilhelmi -- gave the Greyhounds a 71-67 advantage.
Labette came storming back, though. Ullery, who had connected on three of her first four shots from behind the arc before missing eight in a row, got her stroke back with with halfway through the first overtime to pull the deficit down to 72-70.
That 3-pointer also ended a 14-0 Fort Scott run and a nearly eight-minute scoreless drought for Labette.
On the next possession, Tiera Tate jumped the passing lane and stole the ball for the Cardinals. It appeared she'd have an open basket to tie the game, but Emalee Copeland of the Greyhounds came charging in and was called for a flagrant foul on Tate.
Tate sank one of her two foul shots to bring the deficit to one point before Luptak was fouled on the ensuing possession. She sank both her free throws to give Fort Scott back a three-point, 74-71 lead.
With under two minutes to play, Labette tied the game as Kiera Tate got the hoop plus the harm, putting the score at 74-74.
After getting a stop, the Cardinals reclaimed the lead with another 3-pointer from Ullery.
With 30 seconds left in the first overtime, Wilhelmi was fouled on her shot attempt -- she cashed in two more free throws to put the score at 77-76 in favor of Labette.
Adkinson was fouled and sank the first foul shot for Labette, but missed the second with 11 seconds left, giving Fort Scott a chance to tie the game without having to hoist up a trey.
Instead, Amanda Cicero, who scored just four points all afternoon, was fouled by Harwood. She showed her poise and sank two foul shots to tie the game at 78-78 and send it into double overtime.
Kiera Tate sank two foul shots to start the second overtime, and Labette never relinquished the lead from that point on.
Another 3-pointer by Ullery -- she finished with six field goals from long range -- gave the Lady Cardinals an 83-78 advantage. Harwood took over from there, scoring eight straight points for Labette to put the game on ice.
The Greyhounds return home Wednesday night for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff with Division I Cowley at Arnold Arena.
Editor's note: The boxscore submitted by Labette to the Jayhawk Conference web site showed statistics that added up to 120 points. The Tribune has therefore assumed that all of Labette's statistics are in error and will show only the Fort Scott statistics in this boxscore.
FORT SCOTT: Haggard 2-6 1-2 5, White 5-15 0-0 10, Wilhelmi 4-15 6-8 14, Copeland 0-2 0-0 0, Luptak 5-12 3-4 14, Shoulders 4-10 0-0 11, McGuire 3-10 0-0 7, Cicero 1-8 2-2 4, Thorp 1-1 0-0 2, Valadez 3-6 1-1 7, McAdams 6-10 0-0 12. TOTALS: 34-95 13-17 86.
Halftime: Labette, 33-30. End of regulation: Tied, 67-67. End of first overtime: Tied 78-78.
Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 5-15 (Shoulders 3-7, McGuire 1-2, Luptak 1-4, Haggard 0-1, Cicero 0-1).
Total fouls: Fort Scott 24, Labette n/a. Fouled out: White, Valadez, Odom.
Rebounds: Fort Scott 58 (Luptak 10, McAdams 10). Assists: Fort Scott 14 (Copeland 6). Turnovers: Fort Scott 18. Steals: Fort Scott 7 (3 with 2 each). Blocked shots: Fort Scott 3 (Wilhelmi 2).