Fort Scott uses 3-pointers, defense to down rivals

Fort Scott's Cameron Woodring (24) uses a screen by Gabe Quick to shoot over Pittsburg's Luke Lee during the second period of action at the FSHS gymnasium Friday night. Woodring connected on four 3-point shots and finished the night with 13 points in the Tigers' 56-42 victory. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

FORT SCOTT -- It looked for a time as though Fort Scott High's basketball team would die by the 3-point shot. The Tigers didn't make any in the first quarter of a non-league game here Friday night against Southeast Kansas League rival Pittsburg and were trailing near the end of the period.

But an assist from the student section sparked a mini-run to end the first quarter and the Tigers turned things around, hitting 5 triples in the second period and going on to a 56-42 victory over the Purple Dragons.

Pittsburg led 12-5 after about seven minutes of play. Griffin Knopp brought Fort Scott (3-2) a little closer with a layup and then the student section lent a hand.

Jalen King had the ball as time was winding down in the period. The students started one of those fake countdowns hoping to force a premature shot.

That never works.

Except this time.

King shot when the students yelled, "Zero!" And airballed from 22 feet.

The thing was, there were actually six seconds left in the quarter. Griffin Knopp grabbed the airball and threw an outlet pass to Pierce Rienbolt, who scored a layup just as the buzzer sounder.

All King could do was look around with a "What the heck?" expression on his face.

"I thought the first half had the atmosphere of a late-season game, an intense SEK league battle," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "It was intense, the crowd was into it, everybody was playing hard. It was fun to watch."

Although Dillon O'Dell scored a layup for Pittsburg (1-2) to start the second period and boost its lead to 14-9, Fort Scott was starting to take control. Knopp scored, then Cody Harper swished the Tigers' first successful 3-point shot to tie the score.

Late in the period, Cameron Woodring sparked a 13-0 half-ending run by hitting back-to-back triples and the Tigers went into the locker room with a 30-18 lead.

"That's the type of weapon the 3-point shot can be," DeLaTorre said. "We don't want to be a team that throws up 35-40 3-point shots in a game. But we've got guys who can shoot it. We were able to get them looks. And I think that's a back-breaker."

The defense switched things up as well. With their height limitations, Fort Scott has been primarily a zone team. But the Tigers were struggling in their effort to stop the Dragons, so DeLaTorre had them switch to man-to-man.

"We haven't played a lot of it this year," DeLaTorre said. "And we were a little concerned about doing it with their size. But that's a credit to the kids. You have to be able to adjust on the fly and we did."

The Purple Dragons decided to use the 3-point shot themselves in the second half and hit a pair to end the third period to cut the deficit to 39-29. An "old-fashioned" 3-point play by Jordan Elliott, who played despite an ankle injury, brought Pittsburg within 7 less than 20 seconds into the final stanza.

But with more room to work on the inside due to the success of the 3-point shot, the Tigers started scoring on mid-range jumpers and layups and went on a 11-2 run that pushed the lead to 50-34 with 2:11 remaining.

Knopp converted 8 of 15 field-goal attempts and led the Tigers with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Woodring followed with 13 points as he enjoyed a 4-for-6 performance behind the arc. Jaret Thorpe hit on 4 of 6 jumpers, including a pair of 3's, as he added 11 points.

Zach Younge was Pittsburg's leader with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. But as a team, Pittsburg shot only 39 percent from the field on 16 of 41.

Fort Scott shot 48 percent overall on 20 of 42 and hit on 8 of 20 3-point shots overall.

The Dragons outrebounded Fort Scott 33-20. But the Tigers had 13 assists and forced 15 turnovers while committing only 5 themselves.

The Tigers will enjoy a week off before traveling to Louisburg next Friday.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- The Tigers lost to Pittsburg Friday, 66-48. Tyler Adams scored 15 points for Fort Scott.

In JV tournament play on Thursday, Fort Scott defeated Anderson County, 46-37. Adams scored 18 for the Tigers and Brady Fink added 10.

The JV tournament continues today as each team will play two games.

PITTSBURG: King 2-4 0-0 5, Clark 2-6 0-0 5, Elliott 2-7 1-1 6, Younge 5-8 1-3 11, Farrington 0-1 0-0 0, O'Dell 2-8 2-2 6, Lee 1-3 0-0 2, Wimmer 0-2 1-2 1, Fondren 1-2 1-1 6. TOTALS: 16-41 6-9 42.

FORT SCOTT: Stark 0-1 6-8 6, Quick 2-4 0-0 5, Thorpe 4-6 1-2 11, Woodring 4-7 1-2 13, Knopp 8-15 0-3 16, Harper 1-7 0-0 3, Rienbolt 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20-42 8-15.

Fort Scott... 9 21 9 17 -- 56

Three-point field goals: Pittsburg 4-14 (Fondren 1-1, King 1-3, Clark 1-3, Elliott 1-3, O'Dell 0-2, Wimmer 0-2), Fort Scott 8-20 (Woodring 4-6, Thorpe 2-4, Quick 1-2, Harper 1-7, Stark 0-1).

Total fouls: Pittsburg 20, Fort Scott 12. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.

Rebounds: Pittsburg 33 (Younge 9), Fort Scott 20 (Knopp 9). Assists: Pittsburg 5 (Clark 2, Younge 2), Fort Scott 13 (Stark 4). Turnovers: Pittsburg 15, Fort Scott 5. Steals: Pittsburg 2 (Elliott, Lee), Fort Scott 6 (Woodring 2, Knopp 2).