Scott City girls comeback falls short; boys survive upset scare

Liberal, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Friday evening in Liberal proved to be a tough evening for both the Scott City boys and girls teams, as they faced the Liberal Redskins in a doubleheader that saw games moved up an hour, due to the possible weather conditions traveling home for Scott City. Both teams had tough first halves, but regrouped and had better second halves. The Lady Beavers fought back, but fell short to the Lady Redskins 38-24, while the boys erased an eight-point first half deficit, and picked up a 52-46 road win. 

Scoring for Scott City was at a minimun in the first half, and into the third period. Two scoring droughts of seven minutes plagued the Lady Beaver, but they were still very much a part of the game. The Lady Redskins led 8-3 after one and 19-5 at the break. They would grow their lead to 23-5 early in the third quarter, before the Lady Beaver offense caught a spark. Scott City scored 10 straight in a five-minute span to cut the deficit to 23-15 with under a minute left in the third period. Liberal added a basket to make it 25-15 heading into the final frame. Through the first half of the fourth quarter, the Lady Beavers were able to make a run, cutting Liberal’s lead to 29-24 with 3:59 remaining. They had a chance to cut it to three points but a missed layup after a Lady Redskin turnover was the verdict, and Liberal (5-7) scored the final nine points of the game to secure the victory. Liberal did not have anyone score double figures, but they were led by freshman Jada Mickens with eight points, and Jai Chapman added seven. Scott City (2-10) was paced by Bailey Nickel with 13 points, all in the second half. 

The boys game ended up being closer than what many had thought going in. Both teams were riding in on winning streaks. Scott City had a 10-game win streak, while Liberal had won their last two. The Beavers looked like they would run away with the game early on, hitting their first two basket in the first 45 seconds of the game, but the Redskins responded with an 8-3 run to end the quarter, and took an 8-7 lead after one period. Their lead would grow to as many as 21-13 with a little over three minutes remaining in the first half. A 9-4 Scott City run got the Beavers to within 25-22 at the half. In the second half, Liberal scored the first points, and the Beavers responded with six straight to take their first lead of the second half at 28-27. The Redskins would end that run quickly and countered with six in a row, then pushed their lead to 37-31 midway through the third period. Six points by Scott City tied it at 37, and Liberal would score the final basket to make it 39-37 after three. The Redskins scored the first basket of the final period to make it 41-37, but the Beavers once again responded with six straight to take a 43-41 lead with 3:51 remaining. Liberal (4-8) tied it up one final time, as Scott City closed out the game with a 9-3 run and won 52-46, fueld by a clutch three up top by Dylan Hutchins, and a pair of Brett Meyer free throws do wn the stretch. The six-point margin was the largest in the game. Scott City (11-1) got a game-high 20 points from Trey O’Neil, and Brett Meyer added 15. Liberal was led by Blake Stout’s 11 points and Britton Abbott’s 10, all coming in the first half.

Up next for Scott City is a pair of GWAC foes in Scott City on Tuesday and Friday. Hugoton comes to town on Tuesday, while Ulysses is the opponent on Friday. Liberal faces to WAC teams next week at home, as Dodge City and Great Bend visit.