Balancing act

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- In the first quarter, Fort Scott High's boys showed offensive power. In the second, they showed defensive domination.

The net effect was a 56-38 Southeast Kansas League victory over Independence at the FSHS gymnasium Friday night.

With the win, Fort Scott avoided a season sweep at the hands of the Bulldogs. The last time Independence did so in a season in which they and the Tigers faced each other at least twice was in the 1982-83 season.

The Tigers (6-5 SEK, 9-6 overall) scored 23 points in the first quarter to build a 10-point lead. Then they held Independence (6-5, 7-8) without a field goal in the second.

Fort Scott used a 9-3 stretch capped by Gary Floyd's three-pointer from the right wing to make it 17-9 with 2:24 left in the period. Drew Messer hit a three-pointer of his own with three seconds left to give the Tigers that 10-point lead.

"I liked the fact that we came out and executed early," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "We had a game plan and did a good job of sticking with it. Things kind of went our way in the first half. It's nice to go into that locker room at halftime feeling like we're playing pretty well."

Fort Scott also scored the first six points of the second quarter to build the lead to 29-13 with 4:38 to to in the half. The only points the Bulldogs scored in the period came on a pair of Lane Hoffmeister free throws with 2:40 to go.

"I didn't realize that," DeLaTorre said when told about holding Indy without a field goal in the second. "We were talking about trying to make sure that we kept them in front of us. We didn't want them to hurt us with the dribble penetration, which they did down there the first time we played them. We forced them to try to beat us from the outside. And when they shot, we were able to get rebounds. We didn't give them second chances."

Oddly enough, in Fort Scott's loss at Labette County on Tuesday, the Tigers themselves didn't score a field goal in an entire quarter -- the third to be precise.

It was 32-15 at halftime and, for the most part, the teams played evenly in the second half, although the Tigers did have a 6-0 run midway through the third to make it 45-25.

Dan Gross' score for Indy turned out to be the final points of the third.

The Tigers only scored two field goals in the final 12 minutes of play although they did make seven of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter. This was not due to an offensive outage but a concerted effort by Fort Scott to control the pace and protect the ball.

"We wanted to limit our turnovers and control the tempo," DeLaTorre said. "We've been in situations where we hurried things and took quick shots and that came back to bite us at the end of some of our games recently. At some point, when you have a 10-point, 12-point lead, you don't have to score anymore; you have to take care of the ball."

Fort Scott had its best offensive night of the season, shooting 57 percent as it made 20 of 35 field-goal attempts. The Tigers shot at least 50 percent in every quarter, going eight of 12 in the first and six of 10 in the third.

"Independence is a very fast and athletic team," DeLaTorre said. "What we wanted to do was make sure that we were ready for any kind of pressure at any time. I think they brought different looks at us and I think we handled them well."

Meanwhile, Indy shot 40 percent overall on 16 of 40. But the 'Dogs were just three of 18 from three-point range.

Alex Barner led Fort Scott with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Tony Karleskint added 17 points as he went seven of 11 from the floor.

No one reached double figures for Independence. Gross and Sam Schroeder each had eight points.

Because of Fort Scott's high shooting percentage, there weren't a lot of rebounds to be had. The Tigers won the battle of the boards, 28-23.

John Leek handed out five assists for the Tigers. Messer had three steals.

Fort Scott's next two games are on the road. The Tigers take on Columbus Tuesday night looking to make amends for a 48-45 loss at home on Jan. 21, their first loss to the Titans in 22 years.

However, the mind set is not one of vengeance.

"It's about continuing to play well," DeLaTorre said. "We want to learn from the mistakes that happened the last time we played them. With this double-round robin...we don't want to be swept by anybody in the league. So far, we've split with the ones we've played twice. Columbus and Chanute, our next two opponents, are teams that beat us the first time around, so our goal this week is to try to get two big wins on the road and get those season series to a split."

JUNIOR VARSITY -- The Tigers rallied for a 56-55 win over Independence. Gabe Quick scored 14 points while Brandon Boyd added 10.

INDEPENDENCE: Schroeder 3-13 0-3 8, Pasternak 0-1 0- 00, Webster 0-3 0-0 0, Craft 2-4 1-5 5, Cadle 1-2 0-0 2, Gross 4-7 0-1 8, Hoffmeister 2-4 2-2 7, Landrum 3-4 0-0 6, Porter 0-0 0-0 0, Speicher 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS: 16-40 11-19 38.

FORT SCOTT: Leek 0-0 1-2 1, M.Karleskint 0-1 0-0 0, Gorman 0-0 0-0 0, Clements 0-0 0-0 0, T.Karleskint 7-11 3-3 17, Wheeler 2-3 2-3 6, J.Karleskint 0-0 0-0 0, Floyd 2-4 0-0 5, Messer 2-2 0-0 5, Johnson 1-3 2-2 4, Barner 6-11 6-10 18. TOTALS: 20-35 14-20 56.

Independence............ 13 2 12 11 -- 38

Fort Scott................... 23 9 13 11 -- 56

Three-point field goals: Independence 3-18 (Schroeder 2-10, Hoffmeister 1-3, Cadle 0-1, Webster 0-2, Gross 0-2), Fort Scott 2-3 (Floyd 1-1, Messer 1-1, Leek 0-1).

Total fouls: Independence 19, Fort Scott 15. Fouled out: Schroeder. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: Independence 23 (Craft 4, Hoffmeister 4), Fort Scott 28 (Barner 10). Assists: Independence 7 (Webster 4), Fort Scott 12 (Leek 5). Turnovers: Independence 16, Fort Scott 17. Steals: Independence 8 (Hoffmeister 4), Fort Scott 9 (Messer 3). Blocked shots: Independence none, Fort Scott 2 (T.Karleskint, Messer).