Holcomb, Scott City earn Tuesday night split

Holcomb, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–With midseason tournament play looming, Holcomb and Scott City were looking to start off the second week of competition this month on a high note. In a pair of physical games, it was the Scott City girls pulling away late for a 37-30 win, while the Longhorn boys take a 57-45 win.

Girls
Since 2000, Holcomb is 22-9 vs Scott City, and has won seven straight vs the Lady Beavers in their own building. Someone forgot to tell the Lady Beavers that. Scott City raced out to a 7-0 lead, and took a 13-10 lead after the first quarter. The Lady Longhorns would pull to within 13-12 early in the second, only to see the Lady Beavers score five straight to take an 18-12 lead with 3:39 left in the half. Holcomb scored the final points on a three-point basket with under 30 seconds left in the half, and trailed 21-18. Scott City (5-3, 3-0 GWAC) went on a seven-minute, 26-second drought, and saw the Lady Longhorns score five straight to lead 23=21 with 2:16 left in the third frame. That’s when the Lady Beaver woke up and pushed forward. The Lady Beavers led 26-23 going into the final period, and after a 26-all tie with 7:45 left, they took the lead for good on a pair of free throws, and never looked back. Scott City put together an 8-1 run to lead 32-27 with 1:07 left. Holcomb (1-7, 0-3) scored three straight, only to see the Lady Beavers score the final three points of the game. For the second straight game, Macie Price led Scott City in scoring with 15, while Kaitlyn Roberts added 10. They were without Emily Smith, who left the game in the second quarter with an injury. The Lady Beavers were 10-26 from the field. Holcomb got eight points from Zoe Engler. The Lady Longhorns were 5-9 from the foul line. With the win, Scott City wins their first game in Holcomb for the first time since 2009, and have won their first three league games of the season since 2003-04, when they won against Hoisington, Pratt, and Ulysses. 

Boys
It was a tall task literally and figuratively for Scott City to pull off the big win in Holcomb. After five lead changes, the Longhorns pull away, using a 12-0 run in a four-minute span to knock off the Beavers 57-45. Holcomb led by as many as six early on at 12-6, using a 7-0 run. Scott City pulled to within two in the second quarter to make it 12-10. Both teams used runs in the second quarter. Following four straight by the Longhorns, the Beavers punched back on a 7-0 run to lead 17-16 with 4:09 left before halftime. The lead would be short-lived, as Holcomb (6-1, 3-0 GWAC) flexed their muscles. They scored the final 10 points of the half to lead 26-17, and scored the first two of the third quarter. Scott City had no answer in the third period again, as the Longhorns were able to use an 8-2 run, and a 5-0 run to push their lead to 17 at 41-24 with 1:21 remaining in the third frame. Trailing by a 43-26 score, the Beavers offense came back to life, scoring nine of the first 11 points to pull to within 45-35 with 5:11 left. Holcomb and Scott City (5-3, 1-2) would trade punches afterward, as the Longhorns win their third consecutive over the Beavers for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Conner VanCleave, the KU Baseball signee, finished with 27 points, while Trey Gilbert added 13. Holcomb was 10-11 at the free throw line, and outrebounded Scot City 38-26. Leading the way for the Beavers was Bo Hess with 19 points and Jordan Horn with 11.

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

Up next with Scott City is a home battle with Hugoton on Friday. The Lady Eagles pulled away for a 63-29 win, while Eagle boys held on for the 52-49 win. Holcomb hosts Colby. Colby’s girls lost on a last-second shot in a 44-42 defeat on Tuesday at Goodland, while the Eagle boys fell 55-42 to Goodland.