Menu
Comets drop Gladbach Classic opener to Labette, 82-41
Going to battle with a roster of six, the Cottey Comet basketball team hit a major roadblock in its third game of the season Friday afternoon in Fort Scott, Kan.
Cottey (0-3 overall), competing in the Fort Scott Community College Gladbach Classic, squared off with Labette (Kan.) Community College, who used its distinct size advantage to topple the Comets, 82-41.
Cottey found itself in a big early hole, trailing 23-7 at the conclusion of the first quarter. Labette’s lead swelled to 50-17 at halftime after Cottey was outscored 27-10 in the second quarter. Labette was able to adequately use its size and depth advantage to exploit the Comets smaller, guard-heavy lineup.
“As a small team our focus each and every night has to be on blocking out on every possession,” said Comets head coach Stephanie Beason.
Cottey’s best stretch of basketball came early in the third quarter, as the Comets went on a quick 6-0 run. With crisp ball movement, Malory Moles’ pass to a cutting Karlie Acton on a give-and-go, resulted in a lay-up and trip to the charity stripe. On their next possession Moles hit guard Destiney Teniente for a 3-pointer from the left wing, as the 6-0 blitz trimmed Labette’s lead to 52-23 with 7:24 remaining in the third.
Cottey’s run came to an end after Labette forward Paige Kidwell corralled an offensive rebound, scored and was fouled.
Beason noted that she was pleased her squad showed its potential, with stretches of excellent play, but added, “We had some spurts where we allowed up to three offensive rebounds on a possession. Late in the game we got on a roll where we were focused and all on the same page offensively. We were doing a great job reversing the ball and running through our sets to get great looks at the basket and some easy scores.
“We need to feed off of this positivity tomorrow and use those offensive bursts for additional energy on the defensive end.”
A bright spot for Cottey was the play of Teniente, who concluded the contest with a team-high 16 points.
“Destiney had a great shooting night for us, and we had others who had some great opportunities that just didn’t fall,” said Beason. “With a little more arc on the ball, those will be falling for us in future games.”
Up next
The Comets square off today with Gladbach Classic host — FSCC. Tip off is set for 4 p.m, at Arnold Arena. Fort Scott, who has opened the season 3-3, averages 74.3 points and 38.7 rebounds per game.
“Fort Scott has always been a team that works hard and (gets) after rebounds,” said Beason. “We’re going to have to have effort to keep them (boxed) out on every shot.”