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'Hound women surrender lead, fall 63-55
Fort Scott Community College's women had a good chance to break a seven-game Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division losing streak at Arnold Arena Saturday afternoon. But the Greyhounds were unable to hold on to a second-half lead and then were unable to complete a late rally in falling to visiting Coffeyville, 63-55.
"Every time we were down, we battled back," Fort Scott head coach Diana Couch said. "A couple of things here or there and it could have been a different ball game."
The Greyhounds (2-14 East, 8-20 overall) will need help to avoid a difficult first-round matchup in the first round of the Region VI Tournament at undefeated, second-ranked Hutchinson. Fort Scott is currently the No. 8 seed in Region VI-Division I standings, two games behind Kansas City, Labette and Neosho County, all of whom are tied for the No. 5 position.
The Greyhounds need to win both of their games this week -- at Independence Wednesday and at Labette Saturday -- and hope Labette also loses Wednesday at home to Kansas City. A tie-breaker with Labette would then go their way and Fort Scott might be able to go to Cloud County (20-7), Seward County (21-6) or Garden City (18-11) instead. Kansas City and Neosho County would both win tie-breakers because they swept the 'Hounds in the season series.
If Labette beats Kansas City Wednesday night, the Greyhounds will be locked into the No. 8 spot regardless of any other outcome.
Coffeyville (7-9, 13-15) led 20-7 at the 10-minute mark of the first half. But Fort Scott scored 9 of the last 11 points of the half, getting within 32-25 on a pair of Brittany Pearl free throws.
"At the half, we told them that we were getting beat because of free throws and because of shot selection," Couch said. "We were outrebounding them. It came down to the details."
Pearl also hit a pair of 3-point goals to begin the second half and a Jolee Sharp transition basket put Fort Scott ahead for the first time, 33-32. Back-to-back Sharp baskets made it 40-36 with 13:35 left in the game.
Coffeyville tied the score on baskets by Tiane Turner and Karin Robinson. Fort Scott scored 8 of the next 10 and were up 48-42 with 5:59 to go on a pair of Sharp free throws.
The Ravens then went on a 14-0 run with QuiEssense Price scoring the last four to give Coffeyville an 8-point lead with 2:40 to go.
Cheyanne Ivy hit a 3-point shot from the top of the key for the 'Hounds. Then Sharp drove in for a layup and Jataeva Arnold made two free throws to bring Fort Scott within 56-55 with 1:19 to go. Turner scored a transition layup to put Coffeyville up three points. The Greyhounds began fouling but the Ravens made 6 of 7 free throws in the final 31 seconds.
Sharp finished with 21 points to lead the Greyhounds in her final home game on Sophomore Night. The Fort Scott High School graduate also had 8 rebounds 8 steals and 4 assists. Pearl made 6 of 12 shots from the field as she finished with 20 points.
"There was energy and excitement when (Sharp) played," Couch said. "When Jolee Sharp plays (well), Brittany plays right with her. Brittany loves to play with Jolee."
Turner led Coffeyville with 17 points while Robinson added 15 and Price scored 14.
Both teams shot 39 percent from the field. Fort Scott made 19 of 49 field-goal attempts while Coffeyville went 25 of 64.
The Red Ravens outrebounded Fort Scott, 41-39, and committed just 19 turnovers to the Greyhounds' 27.
Sharp was honored after the game as the recipient of the Beth King Nuss Fan Favorite Award, which was presented by last year's winner Kendra Mattox. The award was first awarded last season and named for Nuss this year. Nuss was FSCC's first women's basketball coach in 1974-75.
"When she touches the ball, the whole gym livens up," Couch said. "Jolee got votes last year. She's always been a favorite the last two years."
Arnold was Fort Scott's other sophomore this season. She also had 8 rebounds. Both Sharp and Arnold were honored before the game tipped off.
COFFEYVILLE: Turner 8-13 1-2 17, Robinson 5-13 4-4 15, Price 7-13 0-1 14, Frazier 3-9 2-2 8, Rhoiney 1-6 2-4 4, Miller 1-3 0-0 3, Wilson 0-7 2-2 2. TOTALS: 25-64 11-15 63.
FORT SCOTT: Sharp 8-17 5-10 21, Pearl 6-12 5-6 20, Arnold 2-7 2-4 6, Smith 1-4 0-0 3, Ivy 1-3 0-0 3, McKenzie 1-3 0-0 2, Atherton 0-2 0-0 0, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19-49 12-20 55.
Halftime: Coffeyville, 32-25.
Three-point field goals: Coffeyville 2-9 (Robinson 1-2, Miller 1-3, Wilson 0-4), Fort Scott 5-14 (Pearl 3-8, Ivy 1-1, Smith 1-4, Sharp 0-1). Total fouls: Coffeyville 19, Fort Scott 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Coffeyville 41 (Frazier 13, Rhoiney 10), Fort Scott 39 (Sharp 8, Arnold 8). Assists: Coffeyville 14 (Robinson 7), Fort Scott 7 (Sharp 4). Turnovers: Coffeyville 19, Fort Scott 27. Steals: Coffeyville 14 (Robinson 5), Fort Scott 13 (Sharp 8). Blocked shots: Coffeyville 3 (3 with 1 each), Fort Scott 3 (3 with 1 each).