Sluggish start dooms Greyhound men in loss

HIGHLAND — Fort Scott Community College’s men were undefeated in January but Highland kept the Greyhounds winless in February with a 91-66 win in Jayhawk Conference-Division II play here Wednesday night.

Fort Scott had won eight straight games before falling Saturday at Johnson County. A sluggish first half in which they were outscored 45-24 by the Scotties made things too tough to overcome in the second half.

For the game, the ’Hounds (2-2 Jayhawk, 3-2 Region VI, 17-8 overall) shot well, 55.3 percent, from the floor. But Highland (3-1, 4-1, 19-6) shot slightly better, 57.4 percent, while also making 15 3-pointers to just 6 for Fort Scott.

The ’Hounds fell out of a tie for second place with Highland in both the conference and the region with the loss. Johnson County (4-0, 5-0, 13-12) leads by a game following a 99-83 win over Hesston Wednesday night. It was the ninth straight victory for the Cavaliers, who started the season 0-6.

Holden Redparth led Highland with 28 points as he connected on 9 of 16 3-point attempts. James Caldwell added 13 and Alonzo Williams contributed 10. Taiveyhon Mason recorded a double-double, scoring 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and handing out 11 assists.

John Montgomery led Fort Scott with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Tyler Zinn was 6 of 8 from the field as he finished with 16. George Brocato added 11 as he went 5 of 6 from the floor.

Because of the high shooting percentages by both teams, rebounds were at a premium. Highland won the battle of the boards, 27-23. There were only a combined total of 16 offensive boards in the contest.

The second time through the conference/region schedule begins today when the Greyhounds host Hesston in a region-only game at 2 p.m. in Arnold Arena. Fort Scott rallied to beat the Larks (1-4 region, 13-8 overall) 68-66 on the road on January 24. Hesston has not won since then and has allowed an average of 99 points per game in its last three outings.

FORT SCOTT: Brocato 5-6 1-2 11, Montgomery 8-10 2-3 18, Sanders 1-6 1-2 3, Nelson 1-2 4-4 6, Zinn 6-8 0-0 16, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 3-7 0-0 8, Flowers 1-1 0-0 2, Richardson 1-7 0-0 2. TOTALS: 26-47 8-11 66.

HIGHLAND: Mason 5-7 0-0 10, Haskins 1-5 0-0 3, Caldwell 6-9 0-0 13, Redparth 9-18 1-1 28, Williams 4-5 1-1 10, Owen 2-3 0-0 6, Johnson 2-3 2-3 6, Harvey 2-3 0-0 4, Doakes 0-0 0-0 0, Rutherford 1-5 2-2 5, Perry 3-3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 235-61 6-7 91

Highland.................................. 45 46 — 91

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 6-15 (Zinn 4-6, Davis 2-5, Brocato 0-1, Nelson 0-1), Highland 15-28 (Redparth 9-16, Owen 2-2, Caldwell 1-1, Williams 1-1, Rutherford 1-2, Haskins 1-5, Mason 0-1).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 13, Highland 11. Fouled out: None. Technical foul: Williams,

Rebounds: Fort Scott 23 (Nelson 5), Highland 27 (Redparth 9). Assists: Fort Scott 16 (Zinn 4), Highland 24 (Mason 11). Turnovers: Fort Scott 15, Highland 8. Steals: Fort Scott 5 (Sanders 20), Highland 7 (Mason 4). Blocked shots: Fort Scott 1 (Richardson), Highland 1 (Caldwell).