FSCC men struggle in loss

By Scott Nuzum

Tribune Sports Editor

It was one of those games where it was difficult to tell whether the defenses were great or the offenses were terrible at Arnold Arena Wednesday night. Either way, Fort Scott Community College's men got the worst of it in a 59-47 loss to Kansas City Kansas in Jayhawk Conference-Division II play.

Kansas City (4-2 division, 8-2 region, 11-17 overall) moved into a tie for first place in the division with Highland (4-2, 7-3, 21-7) while the Greyhounds (4-3, 5-5, 13-15) dropped out of a tie with the Scotties and back to third place. The Blue Devils also swept the season series, a key tie-breaker that could go against the 'Hounds as they now have to fight just to get a first-round home game in the Region VI Tournament.

Fort Scott is currently tied with Labette (1-5, 5-5, 13-14) in the region for the No. 4 seed but the Greyhounds swept the season series. The top two seeds get first-round byes and second-round home games while the third and fourth seeds get first-round home games. Fort Scott's final two regular-season games are at Highland today and at home against Brown Mackie Wednesday. Labette plays home games against Kansas City and Highland to close out the regular season.

The Greyhounds started the game well, going out to an 11-5 lead following Dametrius Walker's drive for a layup with 11:58 left in the first half. But Fort Scott wouldn't score another field goal for 10 1/2 minutes and didn't score for nearly 8 minutes after Walker's free throws with 9:10 remaining made it 15-11.

Kansas City then scored 11 of the last 14 points of the half to go into the locker room with a 22-18 lead. Dejuan Sherman scored the Greyhounds' only points of that stretch when he converted a 3-point play with 1:21 left.

Fort Scott made just 6 of 24 field-goal attempts in the first half. Kansas City wasn't that much better at 8 of 19.

The Greyhounds were able to stay within one possession of the Devils early in the second half. Sherman drove in for a basket to keep them within 28-25 with 12:32 to go. But then another drought hit.

Kansas City outscored Fort Scott 13-6 in the next 5:42, during which the Devils held the Greyhounds without a field goal. Kansas City's Kellen Turner scored 9 points in a row himself, including a rare 4-point conversion after he was fouled on a successful 3-pointer.

Anthony Cerda scored a field goal for the 'Hounds with 6:50 to go, keeping Fort Scott within 43-36. Cerda also brought the Greyhounds within 53-47 with 1:28 to go on a 3-pointer but Kansas City scored the game's last 5 points.

Fort Scott was held to fewer than 50 points for the first time since the 2015-16 season opener against Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa. The 'Hounds finished the game shooting 32 percent from the field on 14 of 44 and were outrebounded 33-27.

Walker finished with 14 points for Fort Scott while Cerda added 13. Jonathon Murray led KCK with 19 points followed by Turner with 11 and Artavious Banks with 10.

KANSAS CITY KANSAS: Turner 2-5 6-7 11, Lee Jr. 2-6 1-2 7, McCuller II 1-4 2-4 4, Meter 2-3 2-2 6, Murray 7-15 5-6 19, Hartley 0-4 2-2 2, Kingcannon 0-0 0-0 0, Banks 5-6 0-0 10. TOTALS: 19-43 18-23 59.

FORT SCOTT: Walker 4-13 6-7 14, Zinn 1-9 0-0 3, Cerda 4-8 3-3 13, Moton 2-4 2-3 6, Setter 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 1-4 0-3 2, Sherman 2-4 3-3 7, Moore Jr. 0-1 2-2 2, Freeman 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14-44 16-21 47.

Fort Scott.................. 18 29 -- 47

Three-point field goals: Kansas City Kansas 3-13 (Lee Jr. 2-5, Turner 1-4, Hartley 0-4), Fort Scott 3-14 (Cerda 2-5, Zinn 1-6, Miller 0-1, Walker 0-2).

Total fouls: Kansas City Kansas 17, Fort Scott 19. Fouled out: None. Technical foul: Walker.

Rebounds: Kansas City Kansas 33 (Murray 7), Fort Scott 27 (Walker 6). Assists: Kansas City Kansas 8 (McCuller II 4), Fort Scott 4 (Walker 3). Turnovers: Kansas City Kansas 15, Fort Scott 16. Steals: Kansas City Kansas 8 (Turner 3, Murray 3), Fort Scott 7 (Cerda 4). Blocked shots: Kansas City Kansas 5 (Murray 3), Fort Scott 4 (Walker 2, Cerda 2).