Girls heating up

By Scott Nuzum

Herald-Tribune

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Fort Scott High's girls won their third straight game Friday night, beating Chanute, 52-38, in Southeast Kansas League play at the FSHS gymnasium.

It was also the Tigers' second straight win over a team with a winning record. Tuesday night, Fort Scott beat No. 9-ranked Columbus on the road, 37-29. Tuesday night, the Tigers played deliberately and neutralized Columbus' 6-2 senior center Kayla Holding. Friday night, Fort Scott played more aggressively against a team they matched up better against and only trailed once for a total of 13 seconds.

"With Columbus, we knew they might break down and we could get some mismatches," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong said. "Tonight, we didn't want to be sloppy but, in the same tone, we wanted to attack them and make them play us one-and-one or get up the court. And we did a great job of running our transition offense, which we've been missing a lot this year."

Fort Scott remains in second place in the SEK with a 4-1 league record and a 6-11 overall mark. The Tigers trail only Labette County, the only team they've lost to in league play. The Grizzlies were idle Friday night.

Chanute fell to 2-2 in the SEK, 10-6 overall and down into a tie for fourth with Coffeyville (8-6, a 55-38 loser to Columbus) and Parsons (9-7, beaten by Iola 44-24).

The Tigers led 11-3 after five minutes as Jayci McKenney scored five of those points. But Chanute's Mallori Murry scored six in a row for the Blue Comets before Kori Page Rienbolt scored a jumper for the Tigers to end the period.

Shalee Ratliff converted a three-point play to start the second quarter for the Comets, bringing them within 13-12. But Joce Allen hit two free throws and older sister Lauren scored a transition layup to boost the margin to five.

Kayla Angleton sparked a Chanute run by taking a steal in for a layup and Murry scored four more points to give the Comets their only lead of the night, 18-17, with 1:50 left in the half.

Joce Allen drove in for a layup 13 seconds later. Murry made the first of two free throws to tie it at 19-19 with 1:30 left but missed the second one.

The Tigers took the lead and the momentum into the locker room when Ashley Russell scored a transition layup with one second to go in the half.

Chanute stayed close early in the second half but a McKenney stick back started a 9-0 run capped by Afton Gray's three-pointer from the right wing, making it 34-22 with 2:45 to go.

Ahead 39-27 after three, The Tigers outscored the Comets 13-2 to start the fourth. Armstrong then pulled the starters and used a mix of bench and JV players to close out the game. Chanute narrowed the final margin as they kept their starters in for another three minutes.

Fort Scott's winning ways may not stop soon. The Tigers have already played the two teams with the best records in the league, Labette County (14-1) and Columbus (14-2), beating the latter. Of their remaining league opponents, only two have winning records: Parsons (9-7) and Coffeyville (8-6). The Tigers have already beaten Parsons once this season, winning a close non-league contest, 33-31, in January, and will host the Vikings Tuesday night.

"League play seems like one (tough game) after another," Armstrong said. "Parsons has been playing well. Rob Barcus, their head coach, does a good job with those girls. I know coming in, they're going to be itching to get a win against us because we went down to the wire at their place and I'm sure their girls feel like they can play with us. Hopefully, with the momentum we have right now, we'll have a positive attitude and approach it as a tough game but one we can win if we play our game."

And though the Sub-State tournament is still two weeks away, the winning streak may just bode well for post-season success.

"I think the girls are pretty excited about (the streak)," Armstrong said, "and I told the girls, 'We've just proven we can win three in a row, so that means we can get to (the State Tournament in) Salina.' If we win the right three in a row, we can make it there."

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Jolee Sharp led Fort Scott to a 51-21 win over Chanute with 18 points. Katelyn Simpson added 10 points for the Tigers, who outscored the Comets in the 18-2 in the first period and 12-0 in the fourth.

FRESHMEN -- Chanute took the freshmen game, 49-38. Breianna Jones scored 14 points for the Tigers while Sammi Therwanger added 10.