Scott City boys rally for sub-state win over Mustangs

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–In the first meeting between the two teams, Scott City pulled away in the second half to win 67-48. Monday night’s sub-state opener started off slow for both teams. And in similar fashion of the first game, the Beavers would eventually pull away in the second half, as they advanced to Thursday’s sub-state semi-final game in Colby with a 48-32 win over Southwestern Heights at Scott Community High School.

The first half was slow for both teams, who came in averaging in the mid 50’s for points per game. Scott City would close out the first quarter with a 9-3 run to take a 12-8 lead after the first eight minutes of play. After trailing 14-8 early in the second quarter, Southwestern Heights scored the next eight minutes in a stretch of nearly two minutes to take a 16-14 lead with 4:12 left before halftime. The Beavers would score four straight to lead 18-16, only to see the Mustangs score the final five points of the half to take a 21-18 halftime lead.

Southwestern Heights (9-11) led by five in the first minute of the third quarter to lead 23-18. Scott City rallied to go on an 8-0 run in over a two-minute stretch to go up 26-32 with 4:46 left in the third quarter. After the Mustangs responded a minute later to tie the game at 26, the Beavers closed the third period on an 8-1 run to take a 34-27 lead into the fourth period. While both teams did not get started scoring right away in the fourth frame, Scott City (11-10) went on a 14-5 run over the final eight minutes to pull away for a 48-32 win. They’re biggest lead was a 17 on a couple of occasions.

Leading the way for Scott City was Marshal Faurot with 14 points, with 11 coming in the second half, while Hunter Yager and Reid Brunswig had eight points each. They were 8-11 at the free throw line, and finished with 13 turnovers. Southwestern Heights got 14 from Raul Alvarado. The Mustangs were 4-9 at the foul line. Both teams had 21 rebounds.

With the win, Scott City has won their last 12 Sub-State quarterfinal games dating back to 2005. They did not play in a quarterfinal game in 2014 and 2017 when they were in Class 4A, Division II. It also guaranteed the Beavers their 14th consecutive non-losing season. Scott City also improved to 6-0 all-time against Southwestern Heights, including a 2-0 mark in the postseason.

Scott City will play in Colby on Thursday at 6 or 7:30 pm against Phillipsburg. The Panthers are the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A, and defeated Norton 63-34 at home Monday to improve to 19-1 on the season. In other sub-state games played on Monday, Goodland pulled away late for a 59-49 win over Cimarron, and the No. 10 ranked team in Class 3A, Lakin, won 63-44 over Colby, to advance to Thursdays game with the Cowboys.

Coach Brian Gentry Postgame