Menu
Tigers give Pittsburg a battle before falling
On a roll with a 7-point lead early in the second quarter, it might have made some sense if undefeated Pittsburg had pulled away and made Friday night's Southeast Kansas League battle a laugher on their rival's home floor.
But Jesse Jones rallied the Tigers shortly into the period and Fort Scott High's boys fought back to give the Purple Dragons a fierce battle before falling, 78-70, in the highest-scoring game in the SEK this season.
Jones finished with a personal-best 23 points and Jessie Lawrence added a career-high 22 for Fort Scott, the two combining to make 18 of 31 field-goal attempts. Ryan Thomas added 12 as he went 4-of-4 from the 3-point line.
"It wasn't just one guy," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "We had a lot of guys contribute. We had a couple of young guys come in who haven't really been in this spot before. We were a little short-handed, especially in post play."
Matt Campbell didn't dress out due to his injury, which put Jordan Hall into the starting lineup for the second straight time. Then freshman C.J. Horton had to come in and provide a few minutes of work when Hall got into some foul trouble.
PITTSBURG: Curtis 4-6 2-4 10, Butcher 0-3 0-0 0, Roefls 8-12 2-2 24, Elkamil 3-9 3-4 10, Harris 5-9 5-6 15, Austin 0-0 0-0 0, English 7-13 4-6 19. TOTALS: 27-52 16-22 78.
FORT SCOTT: J.Lawrence 9-13 0-1 22, Jones 9-18 4-4 23, Tourtillott 0-2 0-0 0, Michaud 3-5 0-1 6, Thomas 4-6 0-0 12, N.Lawrence 0-0 0-0 0, Goldston 3-3 0-0 7, Hall 0-2 0-0 0, Silvers 0-0 0-0 0, Horton 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-50 4-6 70.
Pittsburg...... 16 16 21 25 -- 78
Fort Scott..... 12 19 24 15 -- 70
Three-point field goals: Pittsburg 8-20 (Roelfs 6-10, English 1-1, Elkamil 1-4, Curtis 0-1, Harris 0-1, Butcher 0-3), Fort Scott 10-18 (Thomas 4-4, J.Lawrence 4-6, Goldston 1-2, Jones 1-3, Horton 0-1, Tourtillott 0-2).
Total fouls: Pittsburg 13, Fort Scott 17. Fouled out: None.
Rebounds: Pittsburg 34 (English 16), Fort Scott 21 (Jones 5). Assists: Pittsburg 6 (Butcher 3), Fort Scott 14 (J.Lawrence 5). Turnovers: Pittsburg 9, Fort Scott 11. Steals: Pittsburg 7 (3 with 2 each), Fort Scott 3 (J.Lawrence 2). Blocked shots: Pittsburg 3 (English 3), Fort Scott 1 (J.Lawrence).
The Tigers (0-3 SEK, 1-6 overall) led 12-9 late in the first after Grant Goldston scored a transition layup. But the Dragons (4-0, 7-0) scored 10 straight, going up 19-12 when Kiley Roelfs hit a 3-point shot less than a minute into the second.
The Tigers tied it at 26-26 when Thomas hit a triple from the right wing with 3:12 to go. Elijah Harris put Pittsburg in front at the half, 32-31, on a jumper with 50 seconds to go.
The teams combined to make 19 of 28 field-goal tries in the third quarter. Fort Scott hit on 10 of 13 shots, reclaiming the lead out of the locker room as Lawrence scored back-to-back layups in the first minute and a half.
The momentum swung constantly in the third but Jones put Fort Scott ahead, 55-53, with 24 seconds left after converting a 3-point play.
Pittsburg scored 8 of the first 11 to start the fourth. Roefls made it 66-60 as a 3-pointer bounced in with 4:34 to go.
Lawrence brought the Tigers within three one last time, 70-67, with a 3-pointer with 2:19 to go. But Pittsburg scored 8 of the last 11 after Fort Scott had to start fouling to save time.
Only five Dragons scored but all of them reached double digits starting with Roelfs, who finished with 24 points. Six-five post Marque English scored 19 and grabbed 16 rebounds. Harris added 15 and Chase Curtis and Gavyn Elkamil each chipped in with 10.
JUNIOR VARSITY -- Pittsburg won the JV contest 68-23. Horton, Alec Michaud and Jarrett Shoemaker each scored 6 points.
FRESHMEN -- Nick King scored 15 points in the Tigers' 70-37 win in the freshmen game.