Fort Scott girls fall, 62-51

WILLARD, Mo. -- Broken Arrow's girls outscored Fort Scott High 15-6 in the third quarter here Friday night and that held up in a 62-51 win on the second night of the round-robin Willard Four-State Classic.

Fort Scott dropped to 0-2 on the season following its seventh consecutive loss at Willard. The Tigers will play Springdale (Ark.) Har-Ber at 1 p.m. this afternoon to conclude their annual stay here.

Both teams made and attempted the exact same number of field goals, both going 17 of 44 for 39 percent. But Broken Arrow made more 3-point shots (7 to 2) and more free throws (21 of 29 versus 15 of 28).

The final score belies the competitiveness of the first half. There were three lead changes and four ties in the first quarter alone. Fort Scott freshman Ashley Cook gave the Tigers a 16-13 lead with less than a minute to go. But Ashlyn McBride followed with a triple of her own moments later to knot the score going into the second period.

Cook made another basket and Katren Rienbolt converted a 3-point play to put Fort Scott ahead 21-16 with 5:40 left in the half. But Broken Arrow scored nine in a row to go up by 4 with less than four minutes remaining.

Brianne Lawrence stuck back a teammate's missed free throw at the buzzer to bring Fort Scott back within 30-29 at the half. Broken Arrow scored the first 9 points of the third quarter to go up 10.

The closest Fort Scott got again was 7 points in the fourth quarter. The Tigers got there four times, the last when Rienbolt scored a layup to bring her team within 55-48.

Thompson made seven 3-point shots as she finished with 28 points for Broken Arrow. She had 19 points in the first half. Kaylee Schneider added 10 for Broken Arrow, which also calls its teams "Tigers."

Rienbolt led Fort Scott with 15 points while Cook and Lawrence each added 10.

Unofficially, Fort Scott outrebounded Broken Arrow, 38-23, and has outboarded its first two opponents, 90-52.

NOTES -- Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong needs only eight victories this season to become just the second girls' head coach to win 100 games at the school. Currently, Armstrong is 92-64 two games into his eighth season. Bob Beckham holds the FSHS record for coaching wins, compiling a 106-71 record from 1989-90 to 1996-97....

GIRLS

FORT SCOTT: Tourtillott 0 0-2 0, Shoemaker 0 1-2 1, Allen 0 0-0 0, Sh.Maycumber 1 1-3 3, Rienbolt 6 3-4 15, Cook 3 2-2 10, Si.Maycumber 1 2-2 4, Lawrence 4 2-4 10, Lattimer 2 4-9 8. TOTALS: 17-44 15-28 51.

BROKEN ARROW: Galden 2 2-2 6, McBride 2 0-2 6, Thompson 6 11-11 28, Dennis 0 0-0 0, Schneider 3 4-6 10, Jackson 2 4-6 8, Erdman 0 0-0 0, Ta.Jones 1 0-2 2, Teague 0 0-0 0, Ti.Jones 0 0-0 0, Stanley 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 17-44 21-29 62.

Broken Arrow.... 16 14 15 17 -- 62

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 2-11 (Cook 2), Broken Arrow 7-13 (Thompson 5, McBride 2).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 19, Broken Arrow 25. Fouled out: None. Technical foul: Dennis.