Scott City boys, Ulysses girls take wins into Christmas break

Ulysses, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–It was the Great West Activities Conference opener for both Scott City and Ulysses Friday night at Ulysses, as the two longtime rivals ended up splitting a doubleheader. Ulysses pulled away late in the girls game to take a 37-28 victory, while the Scott City boys jumped out early, and won 53-32.

The first game of the evening saw both teams struggle from the field. For the fourth straight game, the Lady Beavers started off slow, trailing 11-4 after one quarter. They would turn things around with a run of 12-6, and trail 17-16 at the break. Both the Lady Tigers and Scott City struggled in the third quarter, as it ended up at a 20-20 tie heading into the final quarter. Ulysses started out on a 10-2 run in the first 4:37 of the final period, as the Lady Beavers were unable to pull any closer than four points the rest of the way. Scott City found themselves in serious foul trouble throughout the game, and that proved to be big in the end. Only one player fouled out, but that didn’t come until the 29-second mark of the fourth quarter, when Holly Wilcoxson picked up her fifth foul. Ulysses converted four free throws down the stretch. Scott City (1-3, 0-1 GWAC) was led again by Bailey Nickel with 10 points, while Kelly Wycoff added eight. Ulysses (2-3, 1-0) was led in scoring by Jessi Arnold with 14 points.

The finale of the evening proved to be one sided. Both Scott City and Ulysses came in riding winning streaks. After a brief 3-2 deficit, the Beavers dominated the rest of the game, using a 22-7 run in the final 6:06 of the opening period en route to a 24-10 lead after the first quarter. They ended up 10-of-14 from the field in the first eight minutes. Scott City would score the first 11 second quarter points to take a 35-10 lead. The Tigers scored the final seven points in the final minute 10 of the first half to cut their deficit to 35-17. In the end, the Beavers (3-1, 1-0 GWAC) would grow their lead to 19 after three quarters, and led by as many as 26 at 52-26, before settling for a 21-point win. Two players finished in double figures for both teams. Scott City was led by Trey O’Neil’s 26 points, while Brett Meyer pitched in 11. Ulysses (3-2, 0-1) saw Tregg Rodriguez lead the way with 11 points, and Nathan Medina had 10. 

Scott City will play their next game January 10 at Hugoton, while Ulysses visits Colby January 3.