Fort Scott girls win yet another close one

Fort Scott's Megan McDermed (33) grabs a rebound away from Pittsburg's Hunter Powers during the fourth quarter of play at the FSHS gymnasium Friday night. McDermed scored 10 points for the Tigers in a 26-23 victory over the Purple Dragons. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

FORT SCOTT -- Once again, Fort Scott High's girls won a close one. But this one, a 26-23 victory over Pittsburg in a non-league game at the FSHS gymnasium Friday night, got a little scary for the Tigers.

Fort Scott's five games have been decided by a total of 15 points and none have been determined by a margin greater than 5 points. But this time, Pittsburg came dangerously close to coming back and stealing the game.

But when the Tigers' offense faded away -- they were 0 for 7 from the field in the fourth quarter --their defense stepped up.

"I was really proud of the girls defensively," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong said. "I told them, 'This is why we emphasize defense so much.' Too many people emphasize offense too much when (the players are) young. But when your offense goes (away), what are you going to bank on if you don't have good defense?"

But Fort Scott (3-2) didn't allow a Purple Dragon score in the game's last 3:57. The defense forced turnovers and got key rebounds in order to keep Pittsburg at bay.

"Tonight we used a lot more zone," Armstrong said. "Not because we didn't like out man but when we switched to zone, they weren't scoring. So why change it?"

The Tigers' offense performed well in the first quarter as they made 5 of 9 field-goal attempts and scored the last 6 points of the period in taking a 12-5 lead.

"In the first quarter, I thought we played really well offensively," Armstrong said. "I thought we had some of the best passing we've had in a long time. In the second through fourth quarters, we just didn't execute. We tried to do a little bit too much at times."

Fort Scott made only 4 of 24 field-goal attempts the rest of the game. But they still led 18-12 at the half and 23-17 after Jenna Campbell scored the final basket of the third period with eight seconds remaining.

McKenzie Spresser hit a 3-point shot for Pittsburg to start the fourth and cut the deficit to 3 points. Brianne Lawrence made a pair of free throws to extend the margin back up to 5.

Spresser hit another 3-pointer from the right wing with 3:57 remaining to trim the margin to 25-23. Megan McDermed made one of two free throws with 1:19 left that turned out to be the game's final points.

The Dragons (0-3) looked to set up a play after a time out with 39 seconds left but the Tiger defense forced a turnover. McDermed missed a free throw with 24 seconds left but Lawrence got the rebound.

A defensive rebound off a missed free throw with 13 seconds remaining gave Pittsburg one last chance. McDermed hustled to disrupt the play, stealing the ball with about 5 seconds left. She stumbled to the floor, which turned the ball back over the Pittsburg but not with enough time left and too far from the basket to make anything out of it.

McDermed led the Tigers with 10 points, 3 steals and 2 assists. Spresser led the Dragons with 9 points.

Fort Scott outrebounded Pittsburg, 28-23, as Lawrence grabbed 9 boards. The defense forced 18 turnovers while the Tigers committed just 13. In the second half, the turnover margin was 11-5.

The Tigers are idle until next Friday when they travel to Louisburg.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Pittsburg took Friday's JV contest, 29-23, in overtime. Hannah Tourtillott finished with 8 points to lead Fort Scott.

Thursday night, the Tigers took a 60-30 victory over Parsons in the JV tournament. Sidney Maycumber led Fort Scott with 17 points while Delane Gray added 15 and Maddi Allen 10.

The JV tournament concludes today with two games for every team.

PITTSBURG: Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Spresser 2-5 3-6 9, Powers 3-6 0-0 6, McGuire 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 0-4 0-0 0, L.Willis 1-5 0-1 2, Muff 1-3 2-4 4, Sheppard 0-0 0-0 0, Farnsworth 1-1 0-0 2, Short 0-2 0-0 0, Forrest 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 8-27 5-11 23

FORT SCOTT: H.Tourtillott 0-0 0-0 0, Harper 0-2 0-1 0, M.Tourtillott 1-2 0-0 2, Rienbolt 0-2 0-0 0, Shelton 1-3 1-2 3, Allen 1-6 0-0 3, McDermed 3-12 4-9 10, Campbell 2-4 0-0 4, Karleskint 0-0 0-0 0, Lawrence 1-2 2-7 4. TOTALS: 9-33 7-19 26.

Fort Scott.... 12 6 5 3 -- 26

Three-point field goals: Pittsburg 2-6 (Spresser 2-2, Hall 0-1, Stewart 0-3), Fort Scott 1-3 (Allen 1-2, Rienbolt 0-1).

Total fouls: Pittsburg 15, Fort Scott 11. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.

Rebounds: Pittsburg 23 (L.Willis 6), Fort Scott 28 (Lawrence 8). Assists: Pittsburg none, Fort Scott 5 (McDermed 2). Turnovers: Pittsburg 18, Fort Scott 13. Steals: Pittsburg 5 (L.Willis 2), Fort Scott 9 (McDermed 3). Blocked shots: Pittsburg 2 (L.Willis, Muff), Fort Scott none.