FSCC women survive Cardinal run

Friday, February 5, 2016
Fort Scott's Jordyn Danzer goes in for a layup as Labette's Brashawnda Burris (44) attempts to defend the play during the second half of action at Arnold Arena Wednesday night. Danner led the Greyhounds with 17 points in 58-51 Jayhawk Conference victory. (Sean Frye/Parsons Sun)

With their run through three straight nationally-ranked opponents out of the way, Fort Scott Community College's women got back on track for a possible first-round home game in the Region VI Tournament by beating Labette, 58-51, at Arnold Arena Wednesday night in Jayhawk Conference-Division II play.

The Greyhounds had just seven players available as Lillie Holtgrave missed her second straight outing. Labette, meanwhile, dressed only six players and one of those was a player who had recently joined the team after injuries saw the Cardinals down to five.

While Fort Scott (1-3 conference, 3-3 region, 12-12 overall) moved back to the .500 mark, Labette (0-5, 0-6, 2-19) made a game of it in the fourth quarter, getting within 47-45 with 3:46 remaining after opening the period with a 16-4 run.

Kamiron Luptak scored off a fast break for her first points of the second half and Alexis Byrnes hit a 3-pointer a minute later to help the 'Hounds break out of their funk.

Brashawnda Burris scored for Labette but Luptak hit from just inside the 3-point line with exactly two minutes to go to make it 54-47.

LABETTE: Larry 3-16 0-0 8, Grimes 1-9 0-0 2, Barnes 8-25 8-8 26, Bone 1-1 0-0 2, Burris 4-7 3-4 11, Herlocker 1-3 0-0 2. TOTALS: 18-61 11-12 51.

FORT SCOTT: Byrnes 5-12 0-0 13, Luptak 4-12 4-6 13, Spurling 2-5 0-0 4, Haggard 1-7 0-0 2, Danzer 5-7 6-7 17, Iseman 1-2 0-2 2, Bohannon 3-5 1-2 7. TOTALS: 21-50 11-17 58.

Labette........................ 4 9 16 22 -- 51

Fort Scott................... 11 17 15 15 -- 58

Three-point field goals: Labette 4-18 (Barnes 2-5, Larry 2-9, Grimes 0-4), Fort Scott 5-23 (Byrnes 3-8, Danzer 1-2, Luptak 1-7, Spurling 0-1, Haggard 0-5).

Total fouls: Labette 14, Fort Scott 10. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Labette 43 (Burris 22), Fort Scott 31 (Bohannon 9). Assists: Labette 9 (Barnes 4), Fort Scott 10 (Danzer 4). Turnovers: Labette 16, Fort Scott 10. Steals: Labette 3 (Barnes 2), Fort Scott 5 (5 with 1 each). Blocked shots: Labette 2 (Barnes, Burris), Fort Scott 1 (Bohannon).

Sharai Larry hit a jump shot with 1:41 to go for Labette. Jordyn Danzer, who led the 'Hounds with 17 points, scored a basket with 1:20 left and two free throws with 40 seconds on the clock to make it 58-49.

Janae Barnes, who transferred to Labette from Johnson County, drove for a score with 30 seconds to go. The Cardinals stole the inbound pass but were not able to get a score and the Greyhounds were able to run out the clock.

Danzer made 5 of 7 shots from the floor for Fort Scott and also handed out 4 assists as she took the reigns for the 'Hounds. Luptak was coming back after missing Saturday's game at Kansas City and Kayleigh Haggard only scored 2 points as she came off the bench in this game instead of starting.

Also helping out was Lansing freshman Carly Bohannon with 7 points and a team high 9 rebounds. Bohannon didn't even play in a game until January but made her second consecutive start.

Luptak and Byrnes each scored 13 points for Fort Scott, which made 21 of 50 shots from the field and turned the ball over just 10 times.

Barnes finished with 26 points for Labette but that was on 8-of-25 shooting. Burris finished with 11 points and 22 rebounds for the Cardinals, who were held to 30-percent shooting on 18 of 61.

Labette's only lead was 2-0. By the end of the first quarter, Fort Scott led 11-4 after scoring the last 7 points.

Byrnes' 3-point shot with 6:19 left in the second kicked off a 14-0 run that saw the lead grow to 28-9 with 1:33 to go before Labette scored the last 4 of the half.

The Cards also scored the first 5 points of the second half to get the deficit down to 10. A 7-2 run sparked by a Brynes triple pushed the lead up to 18 points at 42-24 with a minute left in the third.

Larry's 3-point goal, her first basket of the game, ended the period for Labette, giving the Cardinals a head start on their fourth-quarter rally though they were still down 43-29.

Fort Scott will host independent Brown Mackie in a Region VI game at 2 p.m. Saturday in Arnold Arena before playing their next four on the road.