Scott City’s state tournament bid falls short; Lakin pulls away in fourth quarter
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The boys games of the Scott City region provided several highlights on Saturday inside the Scott Community Events Center. Scott City was looking for their first state tournament appearance since 2016, while Goodland was looking to return to state. Lakin looked to punch their ticket to state for the first time in 23 years, while Beloit was aspiring to return to state for a second straight year. The higher seeds would win on Saturday, as Lakin pulled away in the fourth quarter to take down the Trojans 59-43, while the Cowboys would use a 21-3 run in the final quarter to win 72-60.
Goodland 72, Scott City 60
It would be an electric game between the two schools in the third matchup of the year. Goodland led 8-7, and used a 13-3 run to close the final five minutes of the opening quarter to lead 21-10. After the Beavers had pulled to within 23-14, a 7-2 run pushed the Cowboy lead to 30-16 with 4:37 left. Scott City responded with a run of their own, scoring 12 straight to get to within 32-30, before a late Goodland basket made it 32-28 at the break. In the third quarter, the Cowboys maintained the lead, as the Beavers couldn’t get it any closer than one. Goodland scored eight of the final 12 points of the period to take a 51-45 lead in to the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter would see a pair of runs, one by each side. Scott City started out with the first run, scoring the first 10 points of the final period to lead 55-51 with 5:02 left. The Cowboys responded with a run, and a big run they had. A 21-3 run over the next four minutes pushed the lead to 72-58 with 22 seconds left. Scott City had a lead of 58-57 off an Eloy Ruelas triple before Goodland made their run. Brady Brumbaugh had the Cowboys’ first 17 points of the fourth quarter. A late Beaver basket made the final 72-60.
Brady Brumbaugh had 31 points to lead Goodland, while Linkon Cure had 13, Braylon Mull 11 and Zach Thorson added 10. The Cowboys went 9-10 at the free throw line and finished with 13 turnovers. Scott City got 16 from Jackson Rumford, 14 from Avery Radke, 11 from Eloy Ruelas and 10 from Alex Tarango, as the Beavers went 4-8 from the free throw line and had 10 turnovers.
With the win, Goodland is in their second consecutive state tournament, where they finished second to Wellsville. The Cowboy win gave them their first postseason win over Scott City since 1995. Their other win came in 1975 in the postseason. Scott City has won 12 of the 15 postseason matchups since 1964. It was the first sub-state championship matchup between the two teams since 2014, when Scott City won in Goodland 11 years to the date. Ironically, whenever Scott City and Goodland played this year, the Cowboys faced Colby in the previous game. Scott City leads the series since 1979 41-35.
Goodland improved to 20-3 on the year, and will be the 6 seed in the Class 3A State Tournament on Thursday, as they will take on the third seed Cheney at 8 pm. Scott City ends their season at 18-5, their most wins since 2016.
Coach Brian Gentry Postgame
Box Score
Scott City 10 18 17 15–72
Goodland 21 11 19 21–60
Scott City (18-5): Ruelas 4 0-0 11; Radke 6 0-2 14; Meza 1 0-0 2; Tarango 4 1-2 10; Rumford 7 2-2 16; Bailey 2 1-2 7; Team: 24 4-8 60
Goodland (20-3): Sederstrom 1 4-4 7; Mull 5 0-0 11; Cure 6 0-1 13; Brumbaugh 11 2-2 31; Thorson 3 3-3 10; Miller 0 0-0 0; Linin 0 0-0 0; Team: 26 9-10 72
Three-Point Goals: Scott City 8 (Ruelas 3, Radke 2, Bailey 2, Tarango 1), Goodland 11 (Brumbaugh 7, Sederstrom 1, Mull 1, Cure 1, Thorson 1); Turnovers: Scott City 10, Goodland 13; Fouls: Scott City 12, Goodland 11; Fouled Out: None.
Lakin 59, Beloit 43
In the first meeting since the 2002 state championship game, the Broncs and Trojans would battle in the first boys game of the day. Lakin jumped out early to a 21-11 lead, before Beloit responded with a 10-1 run to pull to within 22-21 with 5:22 left before halftime. The Trojans would take the lead at 25-24 with 3:21 left before the break, only to see the Broncs go on a 7-2 run to lead 31-27 at the 1:23 mark of the first half. It would be a 31-29 Lakin lead at the break, as they maintained the lead for the rest of the game. Beloit could get no closer than 36-34 eraly in the third quarter, when the Broncs closed the quarter on a 12-4 run to lead 48-38 after three quarters. The Trojans scored the first five points to pull to within 48-43 with 5:50 left, as they would run out of gas in the end, and Lakin closed the game with the final 11 points to punch their ticket to state with a 59-43 win.
Nicolas Doume and Adrik Gozmez-Esquibel led the Broncs with 21 points apiece, as Lakin was 12-17 from the charity line, and finished with 10 turnovers. Beloit got 19 points from Eli Johnson, as they were 7-12 from the free throw line and committed 12 turnovers.
Lakin is in to the state tournament for the first time since 2002, when they went 26-0 and won the Class 3A State title. They will be the 2 seed and face Silver Lake at 6 pm on Thursday. Beloit’s bid for a repeat state tournament berth ends with a 17-5 record. They finished third last season in Class 3A.
Box Score
Beloit 15 14 9 5–43
Lakin 21 10 17 11–59
Beloit (17-5): Leners 0 0-0 0; Burke 0 0-0 0; L. Cheney 1 0-0 2; Rexroat 3 0-0 8; J. Cheney 1 1-4 3; Remus 2 0-0 5; Adolph 0 0-0 0; Litton 1 0-0 2; Johnson 7 5-5 19; Clark 2 1-3 5; Team: 17 7-12 43
Lakin (22-1): Gomez-Esquibel 8 1-2 21; Rider 0 0-0 0; Ritsema 0 1-2 1; Doume 7 7-8 21; Holloway 0 2-2 2; Munson 0 0-0 0; Patterson 1 0-0 3; Garcia 2 0-0 6; Oldham 2 1-3 5; Team: 20 12-17 59
Three-Point Goals: Beloit 2 (Rexroat 1, Remus 1); Lakin 7 (Gomez-Esquibel 4, Garcia 2, Patterson 1); Turnovers: Beloit 12, Lakin 10; Fouls: Beloit 19, Lakin 10; Fouled Out: None.
