Fort Scott girls handle rival Pittsburg, 52-34

Fort Scott's Katren Rienbolt fights for possession with a Pittsburg player during the second half of play at the FSHS gymnasium Thursday night as Ashley Cook (25) tries to come in to help out. Rienbolt and Cook combined for 33 of the Tigers' points in a 52-34 rout of the Purple Dragons. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Fort Scott High's girls handed rival Pittsburg a 52-34 loss in a Southeast Kansas League make-up game at the FSHS gymnasium Thursday night setting up a showdown with league-leading Coffeyville tonight.

The Golden Tornado likely didn't enter any of the Tigers' minds until well after the game. After all, this was the rivalry game and the second-place Tigers (5-2 SEK, 10-4 overall) were focused.

"Any time you play Pittsburg, you want to play well," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong said. "It was good for the girls to come out and do some really good things and I felt like we played a little bit more like us."

The Tigers took control in the second quarter, opening with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 17-6. They led 29-15 at the half.

The Tigers threw some zone defense at Pittsburg (3-4, 6-9) in the second. There was a stretch during the period where it seemed as though none of the Purple Dragons wanted to shoot the ball against the zone.

Ashley Cook led the Tigers with 17 points as she hit four 3-point goals. Katren Rienbolt followed with 16 points and Abby Denton added 11.

Maddi Allen handed out 8 assists and also led in rebounds with 6.

Brianne Lawrence made her first appearance in a game in about two weeks, though she didn't start.

The Tigers, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A-Division I by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, host No. 8 Coffeyville (7-1, 13-2) tonight at 6 p.m.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Pittsburg held off a Fort Scott rally to win the JV contest, 27-18. Bailie Brown led the Tigers with 6 points.

FRESHMEN -- Fort Scott's freshmen prevailed 33-20 over Pittsburg after building a 29-3 lead after three periods. Kelsey Carpenter led the Tigers with 10 points.

PITTSBURG: Beitzinger 1-8 3-4 5, Phalen 0-7 0-0 0, Vogel 1-5 2-2 4, Elliott 4-9 0-2 8, Pichler 0-1 0-0 0, Muff 2-3 0-0 4, Plank 0-0 0-0 0, Bollinger 0-3 1-2 1, Short 3-9 4-4 12, Curtis 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11-47 10-14 34.

FORT SCOTT: Shoemaker 0-1 0-0 0, Rooks 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Denton 2-2 7-12 11, Allen 0-4 0-0 0, Rienbolt 7-11 0-2 16, Cook 5-9 3-4 17, Lawrence 1-1 2-2 4, Lattimer 2-2 0-0 4, Westhoff 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-31 12-20 52.

Fort Scott........... 9 20 12 11 -- 52

Three-point field goals: Pittsburg 2-20 (Short 2-5, Pichler 0-1, Phalen 0-3, Vogel 0-3, Elliott 0-3, Beitzinger 0-5), Fort Scott 6-15 (Cook 4-7, Rienbolt 2-5, Allen 0-3).

Total fouls: Pittsburg 17, Fort Scott 16. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Pittsburg 30 (Elliott 7), Fort Scott 28 (Allen 6). Assists: Pittsburg 5 (Short 3), Fort Scott 13 (Allen 8). Turnovers: Pittsburg 15, Fort Scott 19. Steals: Pittsburg 10 (Phalen 3, Short 3), Fort Scott 7 (3 with 2 each). Blocked shots: None.