Scott City boys, girls sweep Fountain Fort Carson

Colby, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–On Friday in Colby, the Scott City Beavers faced the Fountain Fort Carson Trojans on the second day of the 31st Annual Paul Wintz/Tom Bowen Orange & Black Classic, and ended up playing in a pair of classic games. They also ended up being positives for the Beavers, as the girls went back and forth with Fountain Fort Carson, and eventually won in overtime 58-54, while the boys held off the Trojans’ comeback efforts in a 48-45 win.

Girls
Scott City showed early signs of a hangover from Thursday’s tough loss to Pine Creek. Fountain Fort Carson (2-12) raced out early on to a 19-8 first quarter lead, and used an 8-0 run in the middle of the quarter. Their lead would be built up to 23-10 with 7:10 remaining before halftime. That’s when the Lady Beavers would battle back. They used runs of eight and six in a five minute span to pull to within 28-26 with 1:03 left before halftime. The Lady Trojans scored the half’s final point to take a 29-26 lead at the break. Scott City (4-6) had many chances to take the lead in the mid stages of the third quarter, but missed shots from point blank. Despite the misses, the persistence from this year’s Lady Beaver team paid off. They used a 7-0 run to take a 41-38 lead after the third quarter. Fountain Fort Carson would not give up despite having key players in foul trouble. They scored the fourth quarters first eight points to lead 46-41 with 4:43 remaining. The Lady Beavers countered with nine straight to lead 50-46 with 2:26 to go. Fountain Fort Carson scored five straight, and took the lead on a three pointer by Alyssa Badail with 1:08 left to give them a 51-50 lead. Scott City forced overtime with 10.8 seconds left, as Nicole Latta hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 51. In the extra four minutes, the Lady Trojans scored the first point, only to see Scott City score seven straight, to push their biggest lead to 58-52 with 42 seconds left. The Lady Trojans added one late bucket, as the Lady Beavers won their third straight consolation semi-final game. Four Scott City players finished in double figures, led by Nicole Latta’s 15 points, while Paige Winderlin had 13, Kiana Yager 11, and Kaitlyn Robers finished with 10. Scott City was 22-37 at the foul line, including a 9-12 mark in the fourth quarter and overtime. Fountain Fort Carson got a game-high 18 points from Sam Worrell. The Lady Beavers have won four games for the first time since the 2011-12 season

Boys
Scott City knew coming in that it would be a similar style of play in their semi final against Fountain Fort Carson. The difference in Friday’s game is that it would end in a dramatic way. Scott City got off to the good start, leading 13-4 after the first eight minutes of play. Their run would extend to 20-4 with 5:21 remaining before halftime, when it looked as if the Trojans would be put to rest early on. Fountain Fort Carson (3-11) would slowly chip away at the lead, as they closed out the final 5:11 of the first half on an 11-4 run to trail 24-15 at the break. Scott City (7-3) would see their lead fluctuate up and down in the third quarter, leading by as many as 12, and no fewer than seven, as they took a 34-25 lead going into the final period. That’s when things got interesting. The Beavers on a pair of occasions took an 11 point lead, with their last coming with 5:20 left at 40-29. Fountain Fort Carson then used an 11-1 run over the next three-plus minutes to get to within 41-40 with a little over a minute remaining. Scott City snapped a three-minute drought, scoring their last seven points from the foul line, going 7-9 in the final eight minutes. The Beavers took a lead of 48-45 with 17.1 second remaining. After that, the Trojans would airball a three point shot with around seven seconds left. Scott City would throw away the basketball. After a quick scramble, Fountain Fort Carson’s last second three point shot to force overtime missed wide right, and the Beavers won their 13th straight Orange & Black game. Leading the charge was Dylan Hutchins with his second straight 17-point outing, while Bo Hess added 13. The Beavers were 15-20 from the foul line. Fountain Fort Carson got 15 from Djimon O’Neal.  

Coach Glenn O’Neil Postgame

Saturday’s schedule has both Scott City boys and girls teams playing in the Colby Community Building against McCook. The Lady Beavers will play in the fourth place game at 2 pm against the Lady Bison, who are 9-8 on the year after their 52-24 win over Fort Lupton. At 8:15 the Beavers and Bison on the boys side will face off in the championship game. McCook is 10-6, after they knocked off Wichita West 47-46, on a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left. This will be the last year McCook will participate in the Orange & Black. They are one of two teams that have played in all 31 years of the tournament.