Hugoton, Scott City split GWAC doubleheader

Hugoton, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Playing in their final games before the Christmas break on Friday night in Hugoton, the Scott City Beavers and Hugoton Eagles met up for their Great West Activities Conference openers. Three of the four teams on Friday night were ranked fourth or better in their respective classifications. In the end, the Lady Eagles would bounce back with an 87-35 thrashing of Scott City, while the Beaver boys held off Hugoton’s comeback efforts in a 59-54 final.

The first game of the night saw Hugoton use pressure defense in the backcourt transition into baskets early on, opening up a 15-1 lead before Scott City would get the offense going. It would be a 23-10 Lady Eagle lead after the first quarter. The Lady Beavers scored the first four points of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 23-14, but that would be the last time they would be within single digits the rest of the way. Hugoton (4-1, 1-0 GWAC) used runs of nine and 14 in the second quarter alone, en route to a 53-24 halftime lead. After Scott City (1-3, 0-1) scored the first basket of the second half, the Lady Eagles scored the next 22 points to lead 75-53. After leading 80-32 going into the final frame, a running clock was used, as Hugoton scored their season high in points. Leading the charge for the Lady Eagles was Katy Heger with 20 points, followed by Dallie Hoskinson with 17, Amy Scott had 14 and Melissa Fabela had 10 for the No. 1 ranked team in Class 4A, Division II. Scott City had one double figure scorer, as Kiana Yager had 10 points.

Shelby Crawford Postgame

In the finale of the evening, two teams ranked No. 4 in their respective classifications battled, and the game would not be decided until the final minute. It looked early on as if Hugoton was going to pull out the big win, as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead a little over two minutes into the game. Scott City fought their way back into the game, and trailed 15-14 after the first quarter. They would take their first lead of the quarter just 12 seconds into the period at 16-15, and both teams would end up tying four times with seven lead changes. Hugoton (4-1, 0-1 GWAC) scored seven of the final nine points of the first half to lead 31-29. Their lead would grow to 33-29 early in the third stanza. The third quarter would be a slow offensive half for both teams, with Scott City (4-0, 1-0) outscoring Hugoton 10-4 to take a 39-35 lead after three quarters. Scott City’s run within a two minute stretch of the third and fourth quarters would be seven. The Beavers would lead the entire fourth period, and would lead by no fewer than four points. Their biggest lead grew to 52-43 with 1:58 left in the game, as they pushed their way to the Christmas break with an undefeated record. Leading the way for Scott City was Trey O’Neil with 26 points, while Chantz Yager had a career-best 16 points, and Dylan Hutchins chipped in 10. Hugoton was led by Kellen Watkins with 15, Zack Lenninger with 14 and Anthony Kinser had 11. 

Glenn O’Neil Postgame

Scott City will have an 18-day layoff between games, as they will travel to Southwestern Heights on January 6, 2015, while Hugoton has 21 days off of competition, when they will travel to Goodland on January 9.