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'Hound women beat Scotties in OT
Fort Scott Community College's women broke a four-game losing streak Monday night as they defeated Highland in overtime, 63-59, in Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play at Arnold Arena.
Saturday afternoon, the Greyhounds fell at home to Johnson County, 65-52.
Fort Scott (4-10 East, 12-14 overall) has played each of the last two games without leading scorer Valencia Kelly, who came down with a 102-degree temperature on Saturday. Monday, a visit to the doctor revealed she has strep throat, which will keep her out of the lineup though at least Saturday.
"This was a really great morale booster for our team to know we can win without her," Fort Scott head coach Diana Couch said. "I'm hoping the team stays motivated with that. We function well as a team even though she's out. if everybody would just look to score."
The 'Hounds led 29-28 at the half as each team traded off on having 6-to-8 point runs.
The Scotties (5-11, 14-13) went in front 35-31 with a 7-0 run to start the second half. Then Fort Scott answered with 10 straight points to go up 41-35 with 12:57 remaining.
Highland's Karli Abbey scored all but the last two points of a Scottie 14-4 run that saw them up 49-45 with 5:33 remaining.
Jordan Ewigman's 3-point goal put Highland up 52-47 with 3:36 to go. But Shadara Hampton hit a 3-point shot with 2:09 remaining and then made a pair of free throws with 52 seconds to go to tie the score.
Hampton hoped to win the game in regulation as time ran down. The Greyhounds couldn't take the last shot as there was about a 3 1/2-second difference between the game clock and the shot clock. Hampton drove the for a right-handed layup, which appeared to be blocked. The ball went out of bounds and Highland was given the rebound with 4.4 seconds left. However, Tanna Prenger hesitated in the backcourt when the ball was inbounded and could only launch a meek half-court shot that fell well short at the buzzer.
Hampton scored first in the overtime but Abbey answered, leaving the score tied at 54-54. Hampton then knocked down a 3-point shot while Abbey was fouled and made two free throws.
Brittany Demery scored a layup for the 'Hounds with 2:24 to go and the defense managed to keep Highland off the board.
With 35 seconds left, Hampton drove a wide-open lane for a layup that put Fort Scott up by 5 points, 61-56. Ewigman missed a 3-point shot at the other end and Hampton came out of the scramble for the rebound with the ball.
Tashanda Jackson hit two free throws with seven seconds left for the 'Hounds and Ewigman swished a meaningless 3-pointer with one second to go.
Hampton, who had just 2 points at halftime, finished with 20 points. The 5' 4" point guard also had 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Demery was 4 of 5 from 3-point range as she finished with 16 points and also had 3 blocked shots.
Abbey made 14 of 32 shots from the field as she finished with 34 points -- none of those coming in the last five minutes of regulation play. That ties for the third-highest scoring total by a Jayhawk Conference player this season. Her 18 rebounds ties for the second-most in the conference this year. Ewigman finished with 11 pounds and 11 rebounds.
Fort Scott just outrebounded Highland for the game, 50-48, but started to take control more late in the second half.
"It was critical for us to rebound tonight and that was the main focus we had the entire night," Couch said.
Jackson had 12 of those rebounds. Four 'Hounds had at least 6.
The Greyhounds travel to Arkansas City Wednesday night to take on Cowley, always a tough place to play, especially after a 3 1/2-hour bus ride.
"Cowley's probably the hardest gym to play in besides probably Colby," Couch says. "What we're going to do today is make a lot of noise, practice with some loud music so we can communicate better. It's going to be a hard environment. It's a game we need for Regional play and we played them great here."
Saturday: Johnson County women 65, Fort Scott 52.
Sherokee Bloodworth's 3-point goal with 5:23 left in the first half seemed to be the kind of shot that usually sparks a team on a run that gets it back into the game and, at the very least, makes it difficult for the other team even if it does go on to win.
But, perhaps typically for the way Fort Scott has played most of the season, the Greyhounds instead went without a field goal after that for the next 10:47 as Johnson County built a 23-point lead. The second-place Cavaliers (10-3, 22-3) scored the last 8 points of the first half to go up 35-20 at the break. The 'Hounds managed just 2 free throws in the first 4:24 of the second half as Johnson County extended the lead to 46-22.
Post Liz Smith, a 6' 1" freshman from Overland Park, led Johnson County with 19 points. Taylor Bird scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Demery led Fort Scott with 17 points in a contest in which the 'Hounds never led. Hampton came off the bench to score 13 points while Bloodworth finished with 10.
Johnson County, which won for the eighth time in its last nine games, shot 45 percent from the field as it made 25 of 56 field-goal attempts. Fort Scott shot just 27 percent on 16 of 60.
The Cavaliers outrebouned the 'Hounds 43-29. Joy Hathaway led FSCC with 7 boards. Hampton dished 4 assists and Demery came up with 3 steals.
Saturday's Game
JOHNSON COUNTY: Bechard 0-3 0-1 0, Nietzke 3-5 0-0 8, Brown 2-6 0-0 4, J.Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Nelson 1-6 4-8 6, Bird 7-12 2-3 16, Blakesley 1-3 0-0 3, Gutierrez 2-3 0-0 5, B.Smith 0-0 0- 00, Crow 2-4 0-0 4, L.Smith 7-13 5-9 19. TOTALS: 18-57 7-11 50.
FORT SCOTT: Bloodworth 3-7 1-2 10, Teich 0-4 0-0 0, Hampton 4-14 4-6 13, Mattox 0-6 0-0 0, Demery 6-13 2-6 17, Hathaway 2-4 0-0 4, Okoronkwo 1-10 2-3 4, Jackson 0-2 4-4 4. TOTALS: 16-60 13-21 52.
Halftime: Johnson County, 35-20.
Three-point field goals: Johnson County 4-14 (Nietzke 2-3, Gutierrez 1-2, Blakesley 1-3, Bechard 0-2, Brown 0-2, Nelson 0-2), Fort Scott 7-31 (Bloodworth 3-7, Demery 3-7, Hampton 1-8, Hathaway 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Teich 0-3).
Total fouls: Johnson County 14, Fort Scott 16. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
Rebounds: Johnson County 43 (Bird 13), Fort Scott 39 (Hathaway 7). Assists: Johnson County 14 (Bird 6), Fort Scott 6 (Hampton 4). Turnovers: Johnson County 11, Fort Scott 12. Steals: Johnson County 5 (Bird 2, Crow 2), Fort Scott 5 (Demery 3). Blocked shots: Johnson County 3 (3 with 1 each), Fort Scott 2 (Demery, Jackson).
Monday's Game
HIGHLAND: Henry-De Leon 0-5 0-0 0, Pettway 0-1 0-0 0, Weege 0-4 0-0 0, Prenger 3-3 0-0 6, Abbey 14-32 6-8 34, Danielson 0-1 0-0 0, Stepherson 1-5 0-0 2, Ewigman 4-18 1-2 11, Hollander 0-0 0-0 0, Dishon 3-4 0-0 6, Tittel 0-0 0-0 0, Kuker 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25-75 7-10 59.
FORT SCOTT: Bloodworth 3-9 0-0 6, Teich 2-8 0-0 6, Hampton 7-22 4-6 20, Mattox 0-4 2-2 2, Demery 6-10 0-0 16, Hathaway 4-7 0-0 8, Okoronkow 0-2 0-0 0, Jackson 0-2 5-8 5. TOTALS: 22-64 11-16 63.
Halftime: Fort Scott, 29-28. End of regulation: Tied, 52-52.
Three-point field goals: Highland 2-23 (Ewigman 2-11, Abbey 0-1, Danielson 0-1, Stepherson 0-1, Weege 0-4, Henry-De Leon 0-5).
Total fouls: Highland 14, Fort Scott 13. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.
Rebounds: Highland 48 (Abbey 18, Ewigman 11), Fort Scott 50 (Jackson 12). Assists: Highland 14 (Prenger 6, Ewigman 6), Fort Scott 9 (Hampton 5). Turnovers: Highland 17, Fort Scott 21. Steals: Highland 11 (Prenger 4), Fort Scott 11 (Hathaway 4). Blocked shots: Highland 2 (Ewigman 2), Fort Scott 5 (Demery 3).