'Hound men beat Highland, salvage series split

HIGHLAND -- Trailing by 12 points in a game it needed to win, Fort Scott Community College's men stormed back here Saturday afternoon to beat Highland, 61-56, in a Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division battle.

More importantly, the Greyhounds salvaged a season split with the Scotties, which will help in tie-breakers for Region VI-Division II post-season play. After Saturday's action, the seven teams in the region are separated by just two games. And of the 12 season series that have been completed, nine ended in 1-1 ties, which will complicate tie-breakers considerably.

Fort Scott (5-6 East, 5-4 region, 13-14 overall) has completed three of its season series but all of them -- including ones with Johnson County and Kansas City -- have resulted in splits and the best the 'Hounds can do against Brown Mackie is split.

As of right now, Kansas City has the best region record of 6-4. The No. 1 seed gets a first-round bye in the post-season tournament. Hesston, Brown Mackie and Fort Scott are tied for the No. 2 position. The second, third and fourth seeds get first-round home games.

Labette, which visits Fort Scott Wednesday night and beat Johnson County, 81-70, on Saturday, is 4-5 in the Region. The 'Hounds defeated the Cardinals at Parsons on January 31. Johnson County and Highland (4-5 East, 13-14 overall) are tied for sixth with 4-6 region records.

With three members of its starting lineup combining for just 13 points Saturday, the 'Hounds needed someone to step up from the bench and Anthony Santiago did just that. Santiago, who was averaging 3.6 points per game coming in, scored 11 points in 19 minutes of play. Fort Scott's four-man bench scored 22 points to just 10 for Highland's reserves -- of which there were just two.

Tyler Owens led Fort Scott with 16 points while Will Harrington scored 13 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and handed out 4 assists.

Kyle-Michael Rose led Highland with 13 points followed by Marquis Yates was kept in check with 11. Yates, who scored 23 points in the January 14 meeting in Fort Scott, was eighth in Region VI (Divisions I and II) with an 18.8-point average coming in.

The 'Hounds host Labette Wednesday at 7:30 and Brown Mackie Saturday at 4 p.m.

FORT SCOTT: Harrington 4-10 4-7 13, Russell 2-3 0-0 4, Hunter 1-2 1-2 3, Rose 1-4 1-2 3, Owens 7-14 0-0 16, Santiago 4-10 0-0 11, Butler 0-1 0-0 0, Knight 0-0 3-4 3, Brull 2-6 2-2 8. TOTALS: 21-50 10-15 61.

HIGHLAND: Clemmons 4-5 1-2 9, Rose 4-10 5-6 13, Yates 3-7 3-4 11, LaFond 2-4 1-2 6, Baker 2-7 3-3 7, Beal 1-2 0-0 3, Thomas 3-4 1-3 7. TOTALS: 19-39 14-20 56.

Halftime: Highland, 32-20.

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 9-25 (Santiago 3-9, Owens 2-6, Harrington 1-1, Rose 1-3), Highland 4-12 (Yates 2-3, Beal 1-2, LaFond 1-3, Baker 0-4).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 13, Highland 14. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Fort Scott 29 (Harrington 9), Highland 23 (Rose 8). Assists: Fort Scott 12 (Harrington 4), Highland 11 (LaFond 4). Turnovers: Fort Scott 13, Highland 16. Steals: Fort Scott 7 (Owens 2, Brull 2), Highland 4 (LaFond 2). Blocked shots: Fort Scott 5 (Rose 3), Highland 2 (Rose 1, LaFond 1).