Dragons control fourth quarter to get by Tiger girls

Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Fort Scott’s Madison Jones (4) passes the ball to Addi Lyons (21) during the first half of play at the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night as teammate Ella Beth (right) looks on and Pittsburg’s Madden Petty and Ela Hendrickson try to defend the play. Pittsburg came away with a 40-34 win in Southeast Kansas League play.
Brian Wade/Special to the Tribune

Pittsburg’s fourth-quarter dominance allowed the visiting Purple Dragons to rally from a 9-point deficit at three-quarter time and take a 40-34 victory over Fort Scott High’s girls in Southeast Kansas League play at the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night.

The Tigers (0-2 SEK, 0-5 overall) took the lead, 13-10, on Ella Beth’s 3-pointer with 1:36 left in the first half. After Pittsburg’s Madden Petty took a steal in for a layup, Ciarra Stumfoll’s layup with two seconds to go restored a 3-point advantage for Fort Scott at the break.

The Tigers were able to maintain the lead in the third, extending it further with a 7-0 run fueled by two more 3-pointers from Beth to make it 25-16 with 51 seconds to go. The Purple Dragons (1-2, 1-4) had four free throws in the last 37 seconds but missed all of them.

Through three quarters, it was a game of poor shooting, both from the field and at the free-throw line, and turnovers. But Pittsburg reversed form in the fourth, coming out and scoring the first 11 points of the quarter to take a 27-25 lead on a pair of Kadyn Matlock free throws with 5:30 to go.

Stumfoll tied the score off a Beth assist. But Petty went to the free-throw line and made four straight charity tosses.

After an exchange of more free throws, Pittsburg held a 33-30 lead with 3:33 to go. Alaina Allen hit a shot from just inside the 3-point line to bring Fort Scott within two, but Petty hit from just inside the line herself with 1:30 to go to make it 35-32.

In the last minute and a half, the Dragons outscored the Tigers 5-2. Stumfoll scored from a Kyra Pryor assist to bring the Tigers with 38-34 but Petty got away on a fast break and scored with 10 seconds left to seal the deal.

The Dragons were 7 of 24 from the field and 1 of 10 at the free-throw line through three quarters. But they outscored the Tigers 24-9 in the final stanza by making 5 of 11 shots from the field and 14 of 19 free throws.

Petty led the Dragons with 27 points as she made 9 of 16 from the field and 8 of 11 from the line. She also had 7 steals. Only four of her teammates scored and none of them had more than 7 points.

Beth led the Tigers with 14 points while Stumfoll added 10 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and picked up 3 steals.

Fort Scott shot 30 percent from the field, making 12 of 40 field-goal tries — 4 of 21 from 3-point range. Pittsburg finished at 34 percent over all on 12 of 35 and 15 of 29 at the charity stripe.

Pittsburg also outrebounded Fort Scott, 33-29. There were 45 turnovers in the contest, 23 by the Tigers. There were also 25 steals with Pittsburg picking up 13 of them.

Madison Jones led Fort Scott in assists with 4.

The Tigers are idle until Jan. 4 when they go to Coffeyville.


PITTSBURG: Johnson 1-2 0-4 2, Z.Pinamonti 0-1 0-2 0, Petty 9-16 8-11 27, Beitzinger 1-5 5-8 7, Matlock 0-5 2-2 2, S.Pinamonti 0-1 0-0 0, Hendrickson 1-5 0-2 7. TOTALS: 12-35 15-29 40.

FORT SCOTT: Pryor 1-5 0-0 3, Jones 0-1 1-2 1, Beth 5-18 1-4 14, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Norman 0-3 0-0 0, Sheehy 1-3 2-2 4, Lyons 0-1 0-0 0, A.Allen 1-3 0-0 2, Stumfoll 4-7 2-4 10. TOTALS: 12-40 6-12 34.

Pittsburg.................... 7 5 4 24 — 40

Fort Scott.................... 6 9 10 9 — 34

Three-point field goals: Pittsburg 1-5 (Petty 1-3, Beitzinger 0-2), Fort Scott 4-21 (Beth 3-14, Pryot 1-5, A.Allen 0-2).

Total fouls: Pittsburg 13, Fort Scott 23. Fouled out: A.Allen.

Rebounds: Pittsburg 33 (Hendrickson 7), Fort Scott 29 (Stumfoll 7). Assists: Pittsburg 3 (3 with 1 each), Fort Scott 7 (Jones 4). Turnovers: Pittsburg 22, Fort Scott 23. Steals: Pittsburg 13 (Petty 7), Fort Scott 12 (Stumfoll 3). Blocked shots: Pittsburg none, Fort Scott 2 (Stumfoll 2).