Menu
ONLINE FIRST: 'Hound women rally, host KCK Saturday
For most of the first half Wednesday night, it looked like Brown Mackie was going to shoot the lights out and send Fort Scott Community College's women on the road for the first round of the Region VI-Division II Tournament.
But the Greyhounds rallied from a 19-point deficit late in the second quarter, took the lead on their final shot of the third and held on to beat the Lions, 71-65, at Arnold Arena.
The win -- paired with Kansas City Kansas' 59-40 loss to Johnson County -- gives the Greyhounds (17-8) a first-round home playoff game against defending Division II national champion KCK (17-12) that will be played at noon Saturday in Arnold Arena. A win there sends the 'Hounds to top seed Johnson County (28-2) Monday night in a semifinal contest. The region championship game will be played at Hartman Arena in Park City Wednesday afternoon.
The Lions (11-19) may have been motivated by the fact that they were playing the final regular-season game in the program's history as the school will close at the end of May. Brown Mackie's only win since January 9 came a week ago at Hesston -- which assured they'd win a tie-breaker over the Larks just to make the playoffs.
Whatever the reason, the Lions defense held Fort Scott in check as they built a 15-9 lead with 1:46 left in the first quarter. Shanessia Walters' 3-pointer from the top of the key brought the Greyhounds back within 3 points with 46 seconds to go.
In the second quarter, Brown Mackie got hot from the field, starting the period with a 18-3 run capped with four consecutive 3-pointers that made it 33-15 with five minutes remaining.
When Hailey Tiles hit another three from up top with 2:11 to go, the Lions' lead was 40-21 and they were 10 of 14 from the field in the period.
However, Brown Mackie didn't score again the rest of the half. Rachel Newquist made two free throws for Fort Scott with 1:50 to go to start a 8-0 half-ending run. Jordyn Danzer hit a 3-point shot from the left side as time expired.
The Greyhounds also scored the first 8 points of the second half starting with Tabor Spurling's conversion of the "old-fashioned" 3-point play. The defense stepped up as well, forcing the Lions to miss their first 8 shots of the half.
With only six players dressed, the two things Brown Mackie didn't want to do was run the floor and commit fouls. But the Greyhounds got the Lions to do both those things.
Danzer tied the game with 2:04 to go in the third when she converted a 3-point play. Brown Mackie made only one of 4 free throws in the next 1:17. That meant that Danzer's 3-pointer from the right side with 17 seconds left to go was enough to give Fort Scott the lead, 52-50, for the first time since the 8-minute mark of the first quarter.
Brown Mackie tried to stay in the game but the Lions started getting players in foul trouble and Danzer kept hitting threes. Two more in the first two minutes of the fourth extended the lead to 58-53. Another one with 2:50 left pushed the lead to 10 points, 67-57.
Brown Mackie had one last push. Hailey Tiles scored a long jumper and Mariah Adams hit a 3-pointer to bring the Lions within 68-63 with 1:19 to go. But the 'Hounds made a few free throws and the Lions finished with only four players on the court after two fouled out.
Danzer made 5 of 8 3-point attempts as she lead the 'Hounds with 20 points. Walters followed with 16 and Newquist with 12. Tiles led Brown Mackie with 21 points with Cinaya Straughter adding 16.
Fort Scott made 25 of 63 field-goal attempts for 38 percent. Brown Mackie finished at 38 percent on 25 of 67 after going 9 for 39 in the second half. The Lions also committed 17 turnovers to just 8 for the 'Hounds.
Chasity Moore grabbed 11 rebounds for Fort Scott, although Brown Mackie had a 46-41 advantage on the boards. Lillie Holtgrave finished with 4 assists and 3 steals.
Fort Scott and KCK would have played each other regardless of the outcomes of their games Wednesday night but the Blue Devils' loss to Johnson County allowed the Greyhounds to host Saturday's game on a tie-breaker as both teams finished 5-7 in region play. Saturday's other first-round game has No. 6 Brown Mackie traveling to Parsons to face third-seeded Labette (24-6). The winner of that game plays at second-seeded Highland (27-3) Monday night. Hesston (8-19), which lost its final 13 games of the season on the court (it received a forfeit from Brown Mackie after the fact), did not qualify for the playoffs.
BROWN MACKIE: Straughter 5-13 4-6 16, Tiles 8-23 1-4 21, Adams 3-12 1-2 9, Bowman 1-5 1-2 3, Green 3-7 0-0 6, Hodge 5-7 0-0 10. TOTALS: 25-67 7-14 65.
FORT SCOTT: Holtgrave 0-5 2-4 2, Newquist 3-5 3-3 10, Danzer 6-9 3-3 20, Batch 1-7 0-0 2, Spurling 1-5 1-1 3, Walters 5-13 4-7 16, Bohannon 4-6 0-0 8, Moore 3-8 2-2 8, Kelley 1-5 0-0 2. TOTALS: 24-63 15-20 71.
Brown Mackie.......... 15 25 10 15 -- 65
Fort Scott................... 12 17 23 19 -- 71
Three-point field goals: Brown Mackie 8-21 (Tiles 4-9, Straughter 2-4, Adams 2-6), Fort Scott 8-18 (Danzer 5-8, Walters 2-5, Newquist 1-1, Holtgrave 0-1, Batch 0-1, Spurling 0-2).
Total fouls: Brown Mackie 22, Fort Scott 12. Fouled out: Adams, Bowman.
Rebounds: Brown Mackie 46 (Green 9), Fort Scott 41 (Moore 11). Assists: Brown Mackie 12 (Adams 6), Fort Scott 11 (Holtgrave 4). Turnovers: Brown Mackie 17, Fort Scott 8. Steals: Brown Mackie 6 (Tiles 2, Adams 2), Fort Scott 12 (Holtgrave 3). Blocked shots: Brown Mackie 4 (Adams 3), Fort Scott 5 (Bohannon 2).