Fort Scott boys roll by Girard, 61-32

Saturday, January 16, 2010
Kenny Felt/Captured Images Fort Scott's Griffin Knopp (30) drives for a layup during the first half of play Friday night as Girard's Preston Samuels, Logan Cherry (22) and Reid Murphy (34) look on. Knopp scored 9 points and blocked 3 shots in the Tigers' 61-32 rout of the Trojans.

FORT SCOTT -- Fort Scott High's boys were up 9-0 on visiting Girard in just a little more than two minutes at the FSHS gymnasium Friday night as the Tigers went on to a 61-32 victory in a non-league contest.

The Tigers (7-3) established an up-tempo game that winless Girard (0-8) could not keep up with. But the defensive intensity Fort Scott demonstrated was equal to the offensive outburst. The Trojans were only able to attempt one field goal -- which they made -- in the game's first five minutes.

Fort Scott was ahead 17-2 when Girard called time out with 3:24 left in the first quarter. Six different players scored during that run.

"We were wanting to get off to a good start," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "What I was proud about was that we didn't lose the intensity level when we went to the bench. We got guys into the game and playing with intensity."

Fort Scott's lead was 19-4 after one. There was no let-up in the second as the Tigers extended the lead to 32-6 with 4:15 remaining in the half. Girard didn't reach double figures until there was 1:42 remaining in the half, at which point the Trojans trailed 34-11.

Capitalizing on Girard turnovers allowed the Tigers to score easy transition baskets. But they were also able to work the clock when they needed to. Jeremy Hull scored on a putback with one second left in the first and Jonathan Stark hit a three-point goal with three seconds left in the second that made it 39-13 at the half.

"What I liked the most was when we had a chance at the end of a quarter to run a play and execute, we got the shot we wanted and knocked it down," DeLaTorre said.

An 11-2 run midway through the third extended the lead to 52-17 with 1:53 to go. It was 54-21 after three and the final stanza was played with the 30-point running-clock rule in effect.

Tiger scoring was balanced with seven players scoring between 6 and 10 points. Gary Floyd was the leader with 10 while Hull and Griffin Knopp each had 9 and four others finished with 6. Ten Tigers scored in all.

"That's kind of nice to see," DeLaTorre said. "The way the game played out, we were able to get a lot of guys a lot of minutes early. It looks really good to see all those different guys contribute. Those types of night are fun when you can get everybody in and everybody contributes."

Preston Samuels led Girard -- which lost to Iola at home on Thursday -- with 7 points.

The Tigers shot 48 percent from the field, making 24 of 50 field-goal attempts. They went 7 of 24 from 3-point range. Girard went 14 of 31 for 45 percent and attempted only two 3-pointers, making one.

Fort Scott outrebounded Girard, 28-21, with Hull grabbing 7 boards. The Tigers dished 12 assists as Floyd handed out 4. They also turned the ball over only 6 times to Girard's 16 as Floyd and Knopp each picked up 2 steals. Knopp also blocked 3 Trojan shots.

The Tigers will play a make-up game Monday night against Parsons at the FSHS gymnasium at about 7:30 p.m. Coffeyville stayed atop the SEK at 6-0 in league and overall with a 62-48 victory over Iola Friday night. However, Pittsburg stunned Parsons, 43-42, to create a tie for third-place. Both teams are 4-2 in league and 5-2 overall after Parsons' second straight defeat as the Vikings lost to Coffeyville on Tuesday.

That might have the Vikings even more riled up as they come into the FSHS gymnasium.

"It's a big game," DeLaTorre said. "It'll be a little odd playing on Monday. But when Monday comes, with the type of team Parsons has, we'd better come ready to play. It's going to be tough but I think we'll be excited and ready to go."

JUNIOR VARSITY -- The Tiger junior varsity took a 63-28 win over Girard as Luke Brown scored 13 points and Jaret Thorpe added 12. The Tiger JV will play Parsons at Fort Scott Middle School Monday at 4:30 p.m.

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