Herlocker leads Girard girls to victory over Fort Scott

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

FORT SCOTT -- Hadyn Herlocker lifted Girard team to victory Friday night as she scored 30 points and put her team ahead with 10 seconds remaining and made two free throws after that to give the visiting Trojans (7-2) a 42-39 victory over Fort Scott High.

The Tigers (3-6) trailed the entire first half and most of the game. But they kept themselves within shouting distance most of the time and Brianne Lawrence gave Fort Scott the lead, 37-35, by converting an old-fashioned 3-point play with 3:49 to go.

Herlocker -- who scored her team's final 7 points -- made two free throws with exactly three minutes remaining. Maddi Allen scored off a Sidney Maycumber assist with 2:18 to go to boost the Tigers' lead to 39-36. But that was the last time they would score.

Herlocker scored a layup with 1:32 to go. The teams battled to a stalemate for the next 1:20.

The Tigers were called for traveling with 25.4 seconds to go. Herlocker then scored the go-ahead basket on a left-handed layup in the lane. Fort Scott committed a turnover on the inbound passed and fouled Herlocker, who made one of two free throws with 6.5 seconds left.

Girard's Alex Walsh stole the ball near half court and passed to Herlocker, who was fouled again with one second left and made one of those two free throws.

Herlocker made 10 of 24 shots from the field, including five 3-point goals.

"She has grit and that's what we're trying to develop in our girls," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong said. "We tried a lot of different things against her. We couldn't triple-team her. We were doubling her at times. Her offense was better than our defense."

The Tigers hurt themselves by committing 25 turnovers, 9 of those in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, most of the game stats favored Fort Scott. They made more field goals, were slightly better at the free-throw line and dominated the boards, 43-24.

"We had a lot of opportunities to win the ball game," Armstrong said. "They gave us some opportunities. We were able to battle back to get a lead but then for whatever reason -- we're having a hard time determining exactly what happened -- but we weren't able to close it tonight and Girard was, so give them credit."

Lawrence made 7 of 11 shots from the field and led the Tigers with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Tigers will take part in the Basehor-Linwood Tournament next week. Their first-round game against Ottawa will tip off at 6 p.m. Tuesday night.

Junior varsity: Fort Scott defeated Girard 49-33 as Jillian Lattimer scored 19 points and Ericah Shoemaker added 14.


GIRARD 42, FORT SCOTT 39

GIRARD: Walsh 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, McLeod 1-1 2-2 4, H.Herlocker 10-24 5-9 30, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Heatherly 1-6 1-3 4, Davied 2-6 0-6 4. TOTALS: 14-41 8-20 42.

FORT SCOTT: Tourtillott 0-2 0-0 0, Shoemaker 0-0 0-0 0, Allen 4-11 0-1 8, Rienbolt 2-8 1-2 5, Shelton 1-6 0-0 2, Sd.Maycumber 2-8 4-7 8, Karleskint 0-1 0-0 0, Lattimer 0-1 1-2 1, Lawrence 7-11 1-2 15. TOTALS: 16-48 7-14 39.

Girard................... 13 9 12 8 -- 42

Fort Scott............. 10 7 10 12 -- 39

Three-point field goals: Girard 6-17 (H.Herlocker 5-12, Heatherly 1-5), Fort Scot 0-3 (Tourtillott 0-1, Allen 0-2).

Total fouls: Girard 16, Fort Scott 16. Fouled out: McLeod. Technical fouls: None.

Rebounds: Girard 24 (H.Herlocker 5), Fort Scott 43 (Lawrence 12). Assists: Girard 3 (Jones 2), Fort Scott 5 (Shelton 2). Turnovers: Girard 17, Fort Scott 25. Steals: Girard 14 (H.Herlocker 4), Fort Scott 9 (Tourtillott 4). Blocked shots: Girard 1 (Jones), Fort Scott 2 (Rienbolt, Shelton).