Scott City boys, Southwestern Heights girls win nail biters

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–After a nearly three-week layoff between games, Southwestern Heights and Scott City returned to the hardwood to battle Tuesday night in Scott City. At times, both games showed signs of not competing for the long duration, but both games ended up being nail biters, as Southwestern Heights held on for a 32-31 win on the girls side, while Scott City needed overtime to win 57-52. 

In the girls game, both teams had a struggle scoring early on. It wasn’t until the 3:05 mark until the Lady Mustangs would score. In fact, they would lead 4-0 after the first quarter, all from former Scott City Lady Beavers Mariah Campbell in her season debut. Southwestern Heights (2-4) built their lead to 9-0 with 4:29 left before halftime. Scott City would only score one field goal in the first half, and didn’t score for the first 11:25 of the first half, and trailed 16-6 at the break. The Lady Beavers would score four points in a flurry to pull to within 16-10 in the first 40 seconds of the second half. However, the Lady Mustangs responded with six straight get their biggest lead of the game at 22-10 with 6:21 remaining in the third quarter. That was the last time they would score for nearly eight minutes. Scott City (1-4) scored the final seven points of the third quarter to pull to within 22-17 after three quarters. Southwestern Heights scored the first two points of the final period, only to see the Lady Beavers make it interesting. After trailing by nine with 5:27 left, a 13-2 run gave Scott City their first lead with 1:56 left on a layup by Kiana Yager. On their next possession the Lady Mustangs would retake the lead to go up 30-29. The Lady Beavers would lead last with 42 seconds left on a jumper by Nicole Latta, only to see Southwestern Heights get the game-winning shot off an inbounds with 36 seconds left by Hannah Baldwin at 32-31. Scott City had a couple of chances, including a shot as time expired, as the Lady Mustangs picked up their second win of the year. Southwestern Heights was led by Diana Carrillo with six points. They were 8-17 from the foul line, and were 12-43 from the field for the game. Both teams had 22 rebounds. Scott City got 11 points from Nicole Latta. After hitting one field goal in the first half, the Lady Beavers finished 11-45 for the game from the field, and 9-10 at the foul line.

The boys game was controlled for the most part by Scott City in the first half, and much like the girls game, saw a dramatic fourth quarter. After leading 17-10 in the first quarter, the Beavers used a 7-0 run toward the end of the second half to build a 32-17 lead with 1:03 left before halftime. Southwestern Heights (2-4) would begin to get back into the game, scoring the half’s final four points to make it 32-21 Beavers at intermission. The Mustangs would come out in the second half on a tear, outscoring Scott City 16-8 in the third quarter to pull to within 40-37 going into the final period. From the final minute of the second quarter to the first couple minutes of the third quarter, Southwestern Heights scored eight straight. They would score the first five points of the fourth frame to take their first lead of the game at 42-40 with 6:27 remaining. That’s when the see-saw battle occurred. In the final period, the teams would trade leads five times. The Mustangs led 48-45 with 1:59 left, and it appeared they would escape with the win. Scott City (3-2) found a way to force overtime. Dylan Hutchins would steal the rebound from a Mustang, step back and tie the game on a three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining to make it 48 all. The Beavers got the ball back after a blocked shot, as Hutchins launched a three. It missed everything, as Bo Hess’s catch and layup went in, but the layup would be after the horn sounded, as the teams would head to overtime. In the extra four minutes, Scott City dominated hitting 9-11 free throws in the overtime, while hitting one field goal. They didn’t allow the Mustangs to score for a five minute span in the fourth quarter and overtime. During that time, the Beavers scored nine straight, and eventually outscored Southwestern Heights 11-4 in the extra session to win 59-52. Scott City got a career-high 22 points from Dylan Hutchins, and a career-best 12 from Drew Duff in his first start of the season. The Beavers were 14-17 at the foul line, and shot 41% from the field. Southwestern Heights was led by Jorge DeLa Torre’s 17 points and Marcos Aguirre’s 11 points in his season debut, who became eligible for varsity for the first time. The Mustangs were 4-8 from the charity line and shot 41% from the field. They had only three turnovers after halftime and had 12 for the game, while Scott City had 19. The Beavers had the rebounding edge 33-25 unofficially.

Assistant Coach Brian Gentry Postgame

Scott City will resume GWAC play Friday with a trip to the Colby Community Building to face the Colby Eagles, while Southwestern Heights hosts Meade next Tuesday.