Fort Scott boys unable to overcome Tornado's hot start

Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Fort Scott junior post Jordan Hall (35) goes in for a layup during the first half of play against Coffeyville at the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night. Hall had a season-high 15 points for the Tigers but the Golden Tornado came out the victors, 60-46.
Brian Wade/Special to the Tribune

A 12-2 game-opening run was too much for Fort Scott's boys to overcome Tuesday night and visiting Coffeyville went on to a 60-46 victory in Southeast Kansas League play.

Fort Scott (1-3 SEK, 2-6 overall) got a personal-best effort from junior post Jordan Hall, who made 7 of 9 shots from the field and finished with 15 points to lead the Tigers. But Coffeyville was able to keep Fort Scott's outside shooting in check.

Meanwhile, the Nado were able to adjust their style of play to whatever suited their need. Whey they needed to run, they ran well. And when they needed to look around, they were able to pull the ball out and keep passing until they found what they wanted.

Coffeyville (3-0, 6-2) also had a balanced inside-outside attack. Guard Jaylen Logan scored 17 points and handed out 5 assists for the Tornado. Forwards Brenndan Graham and Andrew Knight combined to make 13 of 18 shots from the field, each finishing with 14 points.

The Tigers managed to fight back in each of the first two quarters. They had a 7-0 run late in the first that brought them within 12-9 with 40 seconds left after Jesse Jones stuck back an errant shot. But C.J. Kelley hit a 3-pointer from the left side with one second left for Coffeyville.

Fort Scott scored 7 of the first 9 of the second and got within 17-16 with 5:03 to go on Matt Campbell's layup off an Alec Michaud assist. Kelly scored in transition to push the Nado lead back to 3 points but Jessie Lawrence hit a 3-pointer for the Tigers to tie the score. Then Hall scored a layup to give Fort Scott what turned out to be its only lead of the game, 21-19, with 3:46 to go.

Coffeyville closed out the half with a 7-0 run, Trey Myrie capping the scoring for the half by taking a steal in for a layup. The Tornado also scored the first two baskets of the second half. Back-to-back hoops by Knight and Kelley made it 30-21.

With Coffeyville connecting on its first 5 shots of the second half, the Golden Tornado were able to take a 9-point lead, 39-28, into the final stanza.

Fort Scott got within 8 with 2:33 to go. Jones, then Hall scored back-to-back to cut the deficit to 49-41 with 2:33 to go.

Coffeyville scored the next 7 with Logan either scoring himself or assisting on the basket to account for each point. That made it 56-41 with 1:21 to go.

Jones added 10 points for the Tigers, who shot 45 percent from the field on 20-of-44 field-goal shooting. Graham made 7 of 10 fielders and Knight made 6 of 8 for Coffeyville, which shot 52 percent overall on 23 of 44.

Lawrence and Campbell each had 5 rebounds for Fort Scott, which held a 26-24 edge on the boards. Lawrence also handed out 5 assists and Jones picked up 3 steals.

Coffeyville moved into first place in the SEK and Pittsburg's 57-42 win over Labette County at Altamont Tuesday night. Pittsburg is now second at 4-1 in league play with LCHS third at 3-1 and Parsons fourth at 2-1. The Tigers are tied with Independence for fifth place. The Bulldogs took a home win over Chanute Tuesday night, which put the winless Blue Comets into last place (0-5, 1-7).

The Tigers play at Independence (1-3, 1-6) Friday night.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- C.J. Horton led the Tigers with 10 points in a 46-39 win over Coffeyville in the JV game.

FRESHMEN -- Gavyn Pytlowany scored 15 points and Teagan Southwell added 10 in the Tigers' 47-41 victory over Coffeyville's freshmen.

COFFEYVILLE: Logan 4-8 5-6 17, Rutherford 0-0 0-0 0, Myrie 2-8 0-0 4, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Kelley 3-6 2-5 9, Graham 7-10 0-0 14, Knight 6-8 2-4 14, Turner 1-4 0-0 2. TOTALS: 23-44 9-15 60.

FORT SCOTT: J.Lawrence 3-8 0-0 7, Jones 4-12 0-0 10, N.Lawrence 2-4 0-0 4, Michaud 1-2 1-1 3, Campbell 1-3 0-0 2, Horton 3-5 0-0 5, Goldston 001 0-0 0, Hall 7-9 1-2 15. TOTALS: 20-44 2-3 46.

Coffeyville... 15 11 13 21 -- 60

Fort Scott.. 9 12 7 18 -- 46

Three-point field goals: Coffeyville 5-15 (Graham 2-2, Logan 2-5, Kelley 1-4, Myrie 0-4), Fort Scott 4-12 (Jones 2-5, Horton 1-2, J.Lawrence 1-3, Michaud 0-1, Goldston 0-1).

Total fouls: Coffeyville 8, Fort Scott 13. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Coffeyville 24 (Knight 5), Fort Scott 26 (J.Lawrence 5, Campbell 5). Assists: Coffeyville 12 (Logan 5), Fort Scott 9 (J.Lawrence 5). Turnovers: Coffeyville 10, Fort Scott 16. Steals: Coffeyville 8 (3 with 2 each), Fort Scott 7 (Jones 3). Blocked shots: Coffeyville 1 (Kelley), Fort Scott 3 (3 with 1 each).