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Six Pack: Greyhounds succeeding despite shortage of players
Fort Scott Community College's women have won three of the five Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division games played so far this season despite the fact they've only been able to dress more than seven players once during conference play.
But so far in conference play, when the Greyhounds have matched up well with an opponent, they've been able to get the win. And they did so again at Arnold Arena Saturday afternoon, 61-52 over Allen County.
"Hopefully, we'll have some kids back next week," Fort Scott first-year head coach Stasha Richards said. "But if not, this is our six and we're going to do what we can with those six and play."
The Greyhounds are 3-2 in conference play, losing to Coffeyville and Independence, which are two of the top teams in the division. They're 10-4 overall.
The going was tough for most of the game. After jumping out to a 6-0 lead, Allen County (1-4, 8-9) came back to take a 25-23 lead into the locker room when Joanna Ortiz scored a layup at the buzzer.
But Fort Scott's post players, Amber Bowles and Brittney English, picked up their play in the second half. Those two combined for all of the Greyhounds' first 14 points of the half as FSCC took a 37-32 lead with 15 minutes to go.
"I asked Amber to step up and Brittany to step up," Richards said. "That's all you can ask. We had some plays after time outs, and we executed well, and that was the difference. When we needed to score, we did a good job of running the play and getting the score."
Another factor was the fact that Allen County's Jennifer Willis didn't play as well offensively in the second half as she did in the first. She had 14 points at halftime but only three in the second half.
The 'Hounds created some distance when Leondra Doomes-Stephens -- who had 14 points in the first half -- and Kenya Doss also got going. When that happened, Fort Scott went on a 17-3 run that made it 54-37 with 6:18 remaining.
The Red Devils eventually cut the deficit down to 10 as Ortiz and Samantha Aofia combined for eight points in a 9-2 run that brought them within 56-46 with 3:22 remaining.
Fort Scott didn't score another field goal but held Allen County without one as well until there were 16 seconds remaining when Chloe Nelson's three-pointer cut the lead down to 59-50.
However, Doss made a pair of free throws with 13 seconds to go, which finally put the game on ice.
"We executed our game plan really well which was 'don't foul'," Richards said. "Don't foul and don't turn it over, and I thought we did a good job there."
Fort Scott committed only 11 fouls, and no one had more than three -- especially important when working short-handed. Meanwhile, the 'Hounds went to the free-throw line 30 times, making 17.
Doomes-Stephens led all scorers with 22 points. English recorded a double-double as she finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Bowles added 14 points and eight boards. Doss, who didn't score in the first half, finished with 10 and also dished five of Fort Scott's 17 assists.
And if you're doing the math in your head, you're right when you see that only those four players scored.
Ortiz scored 13 points for Allen County while Aofia finished with 10, all in the second half. No other Red Devil had more than four points.
The Greyhounds shot 35 percent from the field for the game, making 21 of 60 field-goal attempts. They went 14 of 30 in the second half. Meanwhile, the Devils connected on only 21 of 76 fielders for 28 percent.
"They're working hard," Richards said. "We talked about picking up our defensive intensity and we did that. They tend to play timid in the first half because of fouls. But in the second half we have a rule to let loose and just play. If you have just one or two fouls, that's good because it's where you want to be -- just play. And I thought we did a good job of that today."
Both teams committed 17 turnovers. Fort Scott had a slight rebounding edge, 51-50. Natasha Blackmore hauled down 12 rebounds for Allen County while Willis finished with 10.
Doomes-Stephens and Miranda Chaney each handed out three assists for the Greyhounds.
Fort Scott goes on the road tonight on short rest, heading to Johnson County for a conference game with the Cavaliers, who are ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA Division II poll this week. Play begins at 5 p.m. in Overland Park.
Johnson County fell to 2-3, 12-5 with an 85-77 loss to Labette, ranked No. 22 in the NCJAA Division I poll, Saturday night at Parsons.
Wednesday, the 'Hounds play the first of consecutive home games as Kansas City Kansas visits for a 5 p.m. tip-off. The Blue Devils (1-3, 10-7) defeated Neosho County, 64-63, Saturday night. They are scheduled to play at Allen County tonight.
NOTES -- Because Johnson County is in Division II, this game won't be included in consideration for post-season seeding because Fort Scott is a Division I team. Highland is also a Division II team, so games against it don't count either.
The Region VI Division I Tournament is seeded based on records among those Eastern Division D-I teams only. Since there are two Division II teams in the 10-team Eastern Division, all of the Division I schools have already qualified for post season play.
Meanwhile, Johnson County and Highland also have to schedule games against Brown Mackie and Hesston, the state's other D-II schools, for seeding purposes in the Region VI Division II tourney....
ALLEN COUNTY: Willis 7-21 1-2 17, Fisher 2-8 0-0 4, Falkenstien 1-8 0-0 2, Nelson 1-2 0-0 3, Ortiz 5-14 2-2 13, Aoifa 4-12 0-2 10, Blackmore 1-10 1-2 3, Harris 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-76 408 52.
FORT SCOTT: Doomes-Stephens 5-16 10-14 22, Chaney 0-4 0-0 0, Bowles 7-16 0-5 14, Doss 3-8 4-4 10, Lawrence 0-3 0-1 0, English 6-13 3-6 15. TOTALS: 21-60 17-30 61.
Halftime: Allen County, 25-23.
Three-point field goals: Allen County 6-18 (Aoifa 2-4, Willis 2-7, Nelson 1-2, Ortiz 1-4, Fisher 0-1), Fort Scott 2-9 (Doomes-Stephens 2-4, Doss 0-1, Chaney 0-4).
Total fouls: Allen County 20, Fort Scott 11. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.
Rebounds: Allen County 50 (Blackmore 12), Fort Scott 50 (English 16). Assists: Allen County 10 (Willis 3, Ortiz 3), Fort Scott 17 (Doss 5) Turnovers: Fort Scott 17, Allen County 17. Steals: Allen County 10 (Willis 3), Fort Scott 8 (Doss 3). Blocked shots: Allen County 1 (Blackmore), Fort Scott 4 (Doomes-Stephens 2).