Scott City sweeps Southwestern Heights

Kismet, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–On Tuesday night at Southwestern Heights High School, the Scott City boys and girls basketball teams looked fresh and improved from their previous game 18 days ago, as they swept the Mustangs on their home court in a non-league battle. The Lady Beavers won their first road game in nearly three years with a 53-44 win, while the Beaver boys hammered Southwestern Heights in an 88-43 rout.

In their first game in 18 days, the Lady Beavers looked refreshed and focused to start the game. They led for most of the first quarter before Southwestern Heights (1-5) nabbed a 14-13 lead after the first period. The Lady Mustangs would lead by as many as six at 23-17 with 4:39 left in the first half. That would be their last points of the half. Scott City (2-3) used a 10-0 run and led 27-23 at the break, their first halftime lead of the year. Just like the beginning of the second quarter, Southwestern Heights would start off stronger. They scored the first six points of the period and led 29-27 with 5:39 left in the third quarter. That was their last lead of the game, which saw seven ties and seven lead changes. Taylor Goodman drained her first three-pointer of the year to give Scott City the 30-29 lead, which would spark a 12-0 run, en route to a 40-30 lead after the third quarter. In the final eight minutes, the Lady Beavers would push their lead to 14 at 51-37 with 3:33 remaining, as they were on their way to their first road game in nearly three years to the date. That last road win was at Liberal in a 54-44 win on January 13, 2012, or in 1,088 days. Three players finished in double figures for Scott City, led by Bailey Latta with 16 points, Kiana Yager with 11 and Paige Winderlin scored 10 points off the bench. Southwestern Heights got a game high 19 points from Diana Gomez. 

The finale of the evening featured a pair of four-win teams. Scott City came in undefeated while Southwestern Heights had one loss. After the Mustangs held a brief 5-2 lead early on, it was pretty much all Scott City (5-0) after that. The Beavers closed out the final 5:4 of the first quarter on a 21-6 run and led 23-11 after the first quarter. Seven players checked in in the first quarter and all seven scored. They played eight players in the first half, and all eight scored. In the second quarter, Southwestern Heights (4-2) couldn’t get under a 12-point deficit, as Scott City used runs of 11 and six straight to take a 48-19 lead at intermission. In fact, the only quarter that the Beavers did not score more than 20 points in a quarter was in the fourth period, when they scored 17. Scott City pushed their lead to 71-32 after three quarters, and ended up winning 88-43. Their biggest lead of the game was at 47 points at 88-41 with over three minutes left. Nine players scored for the Beavers, with four in double figures, led by Dyan Hutchins with a career-high 19 points off the bench, Trey O’Neil and Sloan Baker had 18 apiece, and Brett Meyer added 13 in his season debut. Jorge Dela Torre had 15 points for Southwestern Heights, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped.

Up next for Scott City is a home doubleheader with GWAC foe Colby Friday night. The Girls will play at 6:30, with the boys to follow. Pregame coverage on Mix 94 begins at 6 pm. Southwestern Heights travels to nearby Meade next Tuesday for their next game.