Scott City boys win overtime thriller, girls drop another close one

Colby, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Friday’s consolation semi-finals for Scott City’s boys and girls teams would be a couple tough challenges for the Beavers, as they entered as the underdogs at the Colby High School gymnasium. Both games would see close finishes, with one having a little drama. The Lady Beavers were unable to get over the hump in the fourth quarter, falling 43-35 to Pine Creek, while the Beaver boys rallied for a 52-50 overtime win over Hays High to snap a four-game losing streak.

Girls
The first two games in the series were not even close between Scott City and Pine Creek. The Lady Eagles entered the tournament as the two-time tournament champions, and blew out the Lady Beavers in their tournament openers. This year, both teams were different, despite having most of the same players when they last met last year. The first quarter saw three ties and one lead change, as Pine Creek took a 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. They would continue their momentum in the first half, as they connected on six three-point shots in the first half, scoring 18 of their 25 first half points on triples, as the Lady Eagles led 25-17 at the break. After Pine Creek (8-5) built up a 28-17 lead with 6:13 left in the third quarter, the Lady Beavers started making their push. Scott City (5-6) closed the final 5:23 of the third stanza on a 13-4 run to pull to within 32-30 after three quarters. The Lady Beavers had ample opportunities to either tie or take the lead for most of the fourth quarter, but couldn’t convert a shot. The closest they got would be 34-33 with 2:51 remaining in the game. After that, the Lady Eagles closed the game on a 9-2 run in the final 2:27 left, which saw them go 6-10 at the free throw line, to advance to Saturday’s 2 pm Fourth Place game. Pine Creek only had four players score, as they were led by Gabi O’Connor with 18 points, and Brianna Bailey had 13 off the bench. They finished 13-18 at the foul line and had 16 turnovers. Scott City got 12 points from Macie Price, as the Lady Beavers were only 5-11 at the charity line, and had 12 turnovers. With the loss, Scott City drops to 0-3 all-time against Pine Creek, and are now 23-41 in the Orange & Black. They will play in their first seventh place game since 2013.

Boys
Scott City has been in unfamiliar territory in the month of January. The Beavers haven’t lost four straight games since the 2003-04 season, and were facing the No. 7 team in Class 4A, Division I in Hays, who was coming off a three-point overtime loss the previous day. Just like their last meeting in the 2015 Orange & Black Championship game where Scott City prevailed 62-57, this year’s game would not disappoint. There were two ties and seven lead changes. Scott City had one of their better opening periods in a couple weeks, as the built up a 14-12 lead after the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Beavers, their pattern of bad second quarters continued. Hays closed out the final 6:02 of the half on a 15-6 run, as the Indians led 30-22 at the break, and led by as many as 11 in the half. After Hays (7-3) led 32-22 early in the second half, Scott City started to make their run. A 9-4 run pulled the Beavers to within 34-31 with 4:08 left in the third quarter. Hays, however, would score six straight to take a 43-34 lead with 45.2 seconds remaining in the third period. That would be their last points for an eight-minute, 33-second stretch. Scott City (6-5) would trim the deficit to 43-37 after three quarters, and would slowly score the first seven points of the fourth quarter to lead 46-43 with 1:08 to go. Hays would tie the game at 46 with 12 remaining on a Collyn Kreutzer three pointer to force overtime, as the Beavers missed a last second shot. After the Indians scored the first points in the extra period, Scott City came back down 49 seconds later, and took the lead for good on a Marshal Faurot three-pointer in the right corner to go up 49-48 with 2:27 remaining in the game. The Beavers added two more free throws, as Hays got a putback off a miss to get to within 51-50 with 7.1 seconds left. Scott City hit one of two free throws, and a desperation half court shot by Hays fell short, and the Beavers were able to put one int he win column. Marshal Faurot poured in a career-high 16 points off the bench, and Bo Hess also had 16 points. Scott City was 10-16 at the foul line, and had eight turnovers, and only two after halftime. Hays got 12 points from Collyn Kreutzer, as the Indians lost their second straight overtime game in as many days. they finished 4-4 at the free throw line, and had 10 turnovers, with eight of them after halftime. 

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

Friday’s scores for the girls in the championship semi-finals saw Pueblo East defeat Falcon 61-46 and Kearney Catholic blasted Colby 73-28. The other consolation semi-final game saw Fountain Ft. Carson defeat Lotus School For Excellence 66-10. On the boys championship semi-final games, Fountain Ft. Carson held off Falcon 59-53, and Far Northeast, CO got by Colby 56-45. The other consolation semi-final game had Pine Creek blowing out Lotus School For Excellence 65-27.

Saturday’s games on the girls side have Scott City facing Lotus School For Excellence in the seventh place game in the high school at noon, Pine Creek against Fountain Ft. Carson for fourth place at 2 pm at the Community Building, Colby facing Falcon in the fourth place game at the high school at 4, and Pueblo East taking on Kearney Catholic at 6 pm at the Community Building. On the boys side, Hays will battle Lotus School For Excellence at 12 pm at the Community Building, Scott City takes on Pine Creek at 2 pm at the high school, Colby faces Falcon for in the third place game at 4 pm at the Community Building, and in the championship game at 8:15, it’s Fountain Ft. Carson taking on Far Northeast.