Greyhound men test No. 4 Ravens

It was sophomore day at Fort Scott Community College's Arnold Arena Saturday and the Greyhound men's basketball team was determined to put on its best show against fourth-ranked Coffeyville in a Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division battle.

Five of the six players dressed scored in double figures but Coffeyville claimed an 88-71 victory. That still represented something of a victory in terms of the way Fort Scott played since the Red Ravens had beaten them by 58 points at Coffeyville in late January.

"We executed our plan pretty well," Fort Scott head coach Michael Cook told KSEK-FM's Matt Newbery. "Once we got (Coffeyville) in foul trouble, we penetrated and got some easy baskets. We also got some free throws."

The 'Hounds (1-15 East, 2-26 overall) know they'll have to take on the Jayhawk Conference-Western Division champion in the first round of the Region VI Tournament. Whether that's Seward County or Hutchinson, that team's not going up against a team ready to call it quits.

The Greyhounds might not have been blamed had they sensed deja vu as Coffeyville (14-2, 25-3) jumped out to a 2-3 lead after five minutes. But the pace of the game settled into something that was better for Fort Scott, which managed to trim the deficit to 35-27 on Derrick Green's transition layup with 4:17 remaining in the first half. The Ravens led 44-31 at the break.

Coffeyville pushed the lead to 58-36 with 15:25 left in the game. But Fort Scott again chipped into the lead and got within 11 points a couple of times, the last with 1:10 to go on Austin Danner's 3-point goal that trimmed the margin to 79-65.

"One thing I love about these guys is that they never get down," Cook said. "We kept with the game plan and they stayed upbeat no matter what. I thought we played hard. The effort they gave was tremendous as far as executing our game plan."

Danner and Julian Mills scored 16 points each for the Greyhounds while Green added 15 and Teance Walton and Derrick Thomas each scored 12. Walton also led Fort Scott with 9 rebounds while Mills dished 3 assists and picked up 5 steals.

Charles Hammork led Coffeyville with 20 points. Chadrack Lufile added 18 and Jelani Poston chipped in with 10.

This was the final home game for Mills, Walton and Thomas, who will finish their FSCC careers with three road games. Wednesday night, they'll be at Independence and then finish the regular season Saturday at Labette. One week from Wednesday, they'll visit the Western Division champion in the first round of the playoffs.

COFFEYVILLE: Hammork 6-12 5-6 20, Lufile 8-13 2-4 18, Poston 5-6 0-2 10, Cuyler 4-7 1-1 9, Carr 3-9 3-3 9, Cordray 2-5 0-0 6, Cummings 2-6 0-0 6, Henshall 3-4 0-0 6, Craig 2-5 0-0 4, Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Chaney 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 35-70 11-16 88.

FORT SCOTT: Mills 6-10, 4-6 16, Danner 6-14 0-0 16, Green 6-13 3-4 15, Walton 3-10 6-6 12, Thomas 3-11 5-6 12, Rienbolt 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24-58 18-22 71.

Halftime: Coffeyville 44-31.

Three-point field goals: Coffeyville 7-21 (Hammork 3-8, Cordray 2-5, Cummings 2-5, Alexander 0-1, Carr 0-2), Fort Scott 5-15 (Danner 4-6, Thomas 1-2, Mills 0-1, Rienbolt 0-1, Walton 0-1, Green 0-4).

Total fouls: Coffeyville 22, Fort Scott 15. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Coffeyville 43 (Lufile 11), Fort Scott 44 (Walton 9). Assists: Coffeyville 13 (Carr 5), Fort Scott 9 (Mills 3). Turnovers: Coffeyville 21, Fort Scott 18. Steals: Coffeyville 12 (Hammork 3), Fort Scott 9 (Mills 5). Blocked shots: Coffeyville 4 (Poston 2), Fort Scott 1 (Green).