Tiger boys hold on for victory over Labette County

ALTAMONT -- A game that looked to be a blowout at halftime turned into a nail-biter in the second half here Tuesday night. But Fort Scott's boys held on for a 46-41 Southeast Kansas League victory over Labette County.

The Tigers (6-3 SEK, 8-5 overall) held a 30-10 halftime lead after holding LCHS (3-6, 4-9) to one field goal during a 20-2 run that covered about the last 10 minutes of the first half. Gary Floyd already had 14 points at the break, 9 in the second quarter.

But Labette's Brannon Green, who had just two points in the first half, sparked the Grizzlies in the second half. He scored 5 of his team's first 7 points as LCHS closed the gap to 30-17 early.

The Tigers still held a 37-25 lead going into the fourth quarter. But the Grizzlies managed to chop the deficit down to 42-35 after Collin New took a steal in for a layup with around 1:30 remaining.

Jonathan Krewson cut the deficit to 5 points, 44-39 with 55 seconds remaining. But Floyd scored a layup a few seconds later.

Floyd finished the night with 21 points for the Tigers. Green scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. No other player reached double figures.

FORT SCOTT: Stark 2 0-1 5, Quick 1 0-0 3, Hull 0 0-0 0, Thorpe 0 0-0 0, Karleskint 1 0-1 2, Floyd 8 0-1 21, Knopp 2 0-0 4, Harper 3 0-0 7, Fancher 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 19-44 0-3 46.

LABETTE COUNTY: Turner 1 0-0 2, New 3 2-4 8, Brown 0 0-0 0, Krewson 2 0-0 4, Traxson 2 0-0 4, Smith 1 0-0 2, Green 7 3-4 17, Nash 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 18-45 5-8 41.

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 8-18 (Floyd 5, Stark, Quick, Harper), Labette County 0-9.

Total fouls: Fort Scott 13, Labette County 11. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Fort Scott 30, Labette County 27. Assists: n/a. Turnovers: Fort Scott 16, Labette County 12. Steals: Fort Scott 8, Labette County 13.