Senior Night Sweep! Scott City boys & girls hold off Ulysses

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The end to the regular season is near, and Friday night at Scott Community High School, the Scott City Beavers faced off against longtime rival Ulysses in game 19 of the season. Friday’s doubleheader had the same result as the first meeting of the year on January 15 in Ulysses, as the Lady Beavers picked up a 49-40 win, while the boys pulled away for a 57-41 win.

Girls
Scott City never trailed, scoring the games first four points. What aided the Lady Beavers in never surrendering the lead was they had several mini runs in the first half, and didn’t allow Ulysses to get in any rhythm. The Lady Beavers led 16-6 after the first quarter, and scored nine consecutive points in a six-plus minute stretch of the opening half to lead 19-6 with 6:54 remaining before halftime. However, the Lady Tigers showed their first sign of a comeback attempt with the first half’s final five points to make it 25-17 at halftime. For as many times as Scott City (6-13, 4-5 GWAC) tried to push their lead past 13 points, the Lady Tigers would counter. After trailing 37-24 going into the final period, Ulysses (3-16, 0-9) made things interesting. Over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, they blitzed the Lady Beavers with tough full court pressure, and used a 14-5 run to pull to within 42-38 with 2:10 left. Scott City would bend, but not break. The Lady Beavers closed out the final 90 seconds with a 7-2 run, and swept Ulysses in a season for the first time since 2011. Two players finished in double figures for Scott City, led by Kaitlyn Roberts with 11, while Kiana Yager added 10. Ulysses got 17 from Gina Ballesteros and 11 from Riley Oglevie, as they played without Kali Kenny. With the win, the Lady Beavers have now won four league games for the first time since the 2011-12 season, and it has been since that same season they won at least six games in a season. The win guaranteed Scott City a five to seven seed in the Lakin Sub-State, which will be seeded out on Wednesday.

Coach Sarah McCormick Postgame

Boys
The last two Friday night games for Scott City have not been the prettiest, including their battle with Ulysses. After the game’s first three-pointer by Dylan Hutchins, Ulysses responded with eight straight less than a minute, and had an 8-3 lead with 3:55 remaining in the first quarter. The Beavers would find a way to get into the lead. An 11-4 run over the final 3:34 of the first quarter gave Scott City a 14-12 lead after one. To begin the second quarter, the Beavers found themselves in a bit of a scoring drought, as the Tigers scored the quarter’s first five points to take a 17-14 lead with 4:20 remaining in the half. Scott City (14-5, 6-3 GWAC) responded with six straight, and then when the Tigers pulled to within one with 2:52 left before the break, scored the final four points of the half to take a 24-19 halftime lead. The third eight minutes of play seemed similar to the second in the fact that the points weren’t being put up. It took a while, but the Beavers finally found their first double digit lead of the game with 1:41 to go in the third frame to lead 34-23. Both teams traded baskets to give to make it 36-25 going into the final quarter. To start the fourth quarter, Ulysses (5-14, 2-7) didn’t have the look of a team that had lost 11 straight, as they scored five straight in the first 71 second to pull to within 36-30, but that would be the closest they would get. The Tigers fouled nine times in the final eight minutes, and the Beavers would make them pay. Scott City was 13-16 at the foul line, and saw a lead of theirs go from six to as high as 19 at 56-37 with 24 seconds remaining. The Tigers could only find a good look from the outside a couple times, as the Beavers defense slowed them down, on their way to their 13th consecutive win in the series. Bo Hess lead Scott City with 21 points, as they finished 19-25 from the foul line. Bryan Garcia led the way for Ulysses with 11 points. With the win, coupled by a Larned loss, Scott City is guaranteed a top two seed in the Lakin Sub-State.

Coach Glenn O’Neil Postgame