Vikings take tight battle between pair of SEK elites

Fort Scott's Cody Harper goes in for a first-half layup as Parsons' James Jackson (5) and Brock Borovetz (10) try to defend the play at the FSHS gymnasium Monday night. Harper scored 6 points and had 3 steals for the Tigers but the Vikings, who had just dropped out of the state coaches' rankings, prevailed in the battle of top Southeast Kansas League teams, 43-40 (Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

Visiting Parsons likes to shoot a lot of 3-pointers. Fort Scott High's boys don't mind running up and down the floor.

So, naturally, Monday night's battle between two of the Southeast Kansas League's top four teams was a defensive battle, with Parsons coming out on top 43-40.

"It was a tough game all night," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "We kind of knew going in the way they play and as fast and athletic as they are, it was going to be tough for us. But I'm proud of how we battled and fought ."

Parsons (5-2 SEK, 6-2 overall) climbed into a tie for second place in the league with Fort Scott (5-2, 7-4) and snapped a two-game losing streak. Those losses were to Coffeyville (6-0, 6-0), the SEK leader, and Pittsburg (4-2, 5-2), which is only a half-game out of second place.

The Vikings led by one after one period and the game was tied at halftime and at the end of three. The biggest lead for either side in the first 24 minutes was 4 points -- Fort Scott had that twice.

Cody Harper hit a 3-point shot for the Tigers to start the final stanza and Parsons' Gerald Austin responded in kind, tying it again at 31-31.

But then the Vikings' pressure, which had been intense most of the night, began to sway things. James Jackson started an 8-0 run with a layup. Then Tevin Johnson scored in transition and 6' 6" post Trey Thomas added a layup. A pair of free throws by Thomas gave Parsons the biggest lead of the game for either side, 39-31, with 4:11 remaining.

"The beginning of the fourth quarter was a big stretch," DeLaTorre said. "Their pressure finally caught up with us a little bit. We made some mistakes and turned the ball over at crucial times. And they capitalized, took advantage and scored and I think that was a big difference."

The Tigers fought back with Gary Floyd taking a steal in for a layup with 3:05 to go. Floyd made two free throws with 2:04 left to bring Fort Scott within 4.

Gabe Quick hit a 3-point shot from about 22 feet with 51 seconds left to bring the Tigers within 1. And Jaret Thorpe came very close to picking up a steal when Parsons bobbled the inbound pass. But the Vikings recovered the ball and called time out to reset themselves.

The Tigers fouled Tevin Johnson, but he made both free throws with 29.5 seconds left.

Then came an odd sequence in which each team shot a one-and-one, missed the front end, and fouled before the ball was touched -- and the clock doesn't start until someone touches the ball. So Jackson made two free throws to make it 43-38 even though that was the third set of free throws shot while the clock remained on 13.5 seconds.

Parsons played those last 13.5 seconds -- once the ball was actually put in play so that the clock would start running again -- very smartly. They let Floyd score an easy layup rather than taking the chance of fouling him and stopping the clock. That happened with 8.3 seconds left.

Then Parsons waited as long as possible before getting ready to throw the ball inbounds. The 5-second count to inbound the ball doesn't start until someone is ready to bring the ball in and that killed just enough time that the clock ran out just after the ball came in.

There were only two double-figure scorers in the game. Thomas led Parsons with 18 points as he made 7 of 10 shots from the field. Floyd had 15 for the Tigers.

The Tigers won't play again until Jan. 26, when face off with the Golden Tornado at Coffeyville. The Nado host the 37th Annual Harold Thomas Interstate Classic -- which they've never won -- Thursday through Saturday.

"Their style of play is very similar," DeLaTorre said. "We're still in the (SEK) race and it's a long journey. We're not even in the second half of the schedule yet. We have to be aware that this stretch is big because we've got Coffeyville, then we turn around with Pittsburg and Labette (County) and Independence has already beaten us. We have to start well and, hopefully, we can get a road win at Coffeyville."

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Fort Scott took the JV contest from Parsons, 59-50. Thorpe led the Tigers with 16 points. Jonathan Stark added 13 and Matt Wright finished with 12.

PARSONS: Jackson 1-4 2-2 4, Te.Johnson 3-5 2-3 8, Austin 2-6 0-0 6, Ta.Johnson 2-11 1-2 5, Thomas 7-10 4-6 18, Borovetz 0-4 0-0 0, Krukk 0-2 0-0 0, Nash 1-1 0-0 2, Dhooghe 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-46 9-13 43.

FORT SCOTT: Stark 1-5 0-0 2, Quick 3-4 0-0 8, Hull 0 2 0-1 0, Thorpe 0-0 0-0 0, Karleskint 0-1 0-0 0, Floyd 5-15 4-4 15, Knopp 3-8 1-5 7, Harper 2-4 1-2 6, Fancher 1-3 0-0 2. TOTALS: 15-42 6-12 40.

Fort Scott.......... 7 10 11 12 -- 40

Three-point field goals: Parsons 2-18 (Austin 2-4, Te.Johnson 0-1, Borovetz 0-2, Jackson 0-3, Ta.Johnson 0-4, Krull 0-4), Fort Scott 4-14 (Quick 2-3, Harper 1-2, Floyd 1-7, Stark 0-2).

Total fouls: Parsons 15, Fort Scott 15. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls; None.

Rebounds: Parsons 37 (Thomas 8), Fort Scott 28 (Karleskint 5, Floyd 5, Knopp 5). Assists: Parsons 8 (Ta.Johnson 3), Fort Scott 5 (Floyd 4). Turnovers: Parsons 18, Fort Scott 16. Steals: Parsons 11 (Austin 3), Fort Scott 9 (Harper 3). Blocked shots: Pasons 6 (Thomas 2), Fort Scott 5 (Fancher 3).