Cold shooting deadly for Fort Scott

ALTAMONT, Kan. -- Fort Scott High's boys probably couldn't be faulted for thinking they had Labette County right where they wanted them going into halftime of a Southeast Kansas League game at Harrison Gymnasium here Friday night.

The Tigers were hoping to come out in the second half, maybe go after Labette's 6-8 Seth Burris and get him to commit his fourth foul quickly and maybe have a chance at getting a big win over the Grizzlies.

Instead, Burris stayed out of foul trouble until the middle of the fourth and Labette County shot lights out as they pulled away in the second half for a 53-43 victory.

Not only did LCHS (1-1 SEK, 9-4 overall) get hot in the third quarter, going nine of 12 from the field, but also Fort Scott (0-1, 6-6) went cold, going six of 23 in the second half.

Labette County's 21-20 halftime lead suddenly became a seven-point margin as it scored nine of the first 12 points of the second half. Burris even hit a three-point shot at the end of that run.

Only Zach Smith's three-point shot from the top of the key as the third-period horn went off kept the Tigers from being down by double digits. Instead, it was just a 42-33 lead for LCHS and perhaps Fort Scott still had a shot at a comeback.

Neil Smith, a 6' 6" senior, put a damper on those hopes as he assisted on Adam Nelson's layup to start the fourth quarter the followed it up with a dunk of his own.

Although Labette's scoring pace slowed down after that, Fort Scott couldn't get on track. Smith had another dunk with under a minute to go to boost the Grizzlies' lead to 53-38 before Zach Smith hit a three-point shot and Chris Banks hit a closer jumper for the Tigers to create the final margin.

While Labette County was just one of 10 from three-point range on the night, it was 20 of 27 inside the arc. That 74-percent accuracy was possible because of several transition baskets and the inside play of the duo of Burris and Smith.

The Grizzlies could have pulled away earlier, going up 10-4 before Zach Quick and Smith hit on consecutive threes to tie the score with 40 seconds left in the period. Burris' layup gave LCHS a 12-10 lead going into the second period.

Burris got his third foul early in the second and the Tigers took the lead for the first time when Smith hit the second of his five three-point goals. That lead was short-lived as LCHS scored eight of the next 11.

Quick led Fort Scott with 16 points while Smith added 15. Only three other Tigers were able to score and only one of them had more than two points.

Smith finished seven of 10 from the field as he led LCHS with 16 points. Burris and Nelson each had 10 points for the Grizzlies. Nelson also had nine rebounds, six steals and five assists.

Turnovers were low for a game with so much full-court play, 10 each. LCHS outrebounded the Tigers, 32-24.

Fort Scott plays its next three games at home starting Tuesday night when Independence visits the FSHS gymnasium for a Southeast Kansas League encounter.