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Penn Valley men beat buzzer
Fort Scott Community College's Tyler Owens hit three free throws after drawing a foul on a 3-point shot with 10 seconds remaining in Saturday's game versus Penn Valley (Mo.), the final one of the 2015 Gladbach Classic.
But Penn Valley's Walter Sorrells took the inbound pass and weaved through the defense for the game-winning score with two seconds left to play as the Scouts picked up their first official victory of the season, 71-69.
"That's the learning curve for us," Fort Scott head coach Michael Cook said. "We fought well. We fought enough to come back and tie it up. We took a 6-, 7-point lead and kind of relaxed. We took some ill-advised shots. The press gave us some problems for about a two-minute span. We had some personnel in there who were out of position."
Fort Scott (2-7) led 33-27 at the half and led by as many as 10 points in the first five minutes of the second half. But Penn Valley (1-6), which had forfeited a November 14 game to Arkansas State-Mid South after winning on the court, went on a 16-5 run, going in front on Sorrells' free throws with 9:40 left in the game.
Free throws by John Freeman and Jeremiah Fleming put Fort Scott back in front, 55-52, with 8:10 to go, the first of eight lead changes over the next eight minutes.
Houston Shackelford drove for a score with 50 seconds to go to put Penn Valley up 67-63, its largest lead of the game. Fleming hit a 3-pointer from the right wind to get Fort Scott within one with 34 seconds to play.
Fort Scott fouled quickly, but it was Sorrells they sent to the line. The sophomore guard, who scored 9 of his team-leading 22 points in the final 4:19, made both shots to make it 69-66 with 32 seconds remaining.
The Greyhounds ran a play that was intended to go to Fleming, Fort Scott's best 3-point shooter. But the Scouts had him covered. Owens was the next option and he was fouled by Shackelford on the shot.
"We thought we had Fleming on the back-side screen but they did a great job taking that away," Cook said. "They were big clutch free throws."
Fleming, Owens and Dametrious Walker were Fort Scott's key offensive players going early on as they combined for every points as the 'Hounds took a 14-8 lead with 11 minutes to go in the first half.
Then the 'Hounds turned to freshman Marcus Allen and he responded on the inside, scoring Fort Scott's next 8 points. John Freeman followed up with a pair of field goals off the bench as the lead grew to 26-22 with 3:26 left.
Allen scored a free throw, then a 3-pointer as the lead grew to 30-24.
"We challenged (Allen) in the shoot-around," Cook said. "We told him he needed to step up. The game plan was to go to him early tonight. I thought our motion offense was outstanding. Marcus stepped up and gave us good minuted. John Freeman came off the bench in the first half and gave us great minutes defending and rebounding."
Fleming's triple from up top with six seconds remaining created the halftime margin.
Allen scored 10 consecutive points for the Greyhounds early in the second half to make it 46-36 with 15:46 remaining in the game.
Allen finished with a season-high 24 points as he made 7 of 10 shots from the field and 9 of 12 free throws. Fleming followed with 19. Kindred Williams contributed 13 points and 9 rebounds for Penn Valley while Luke Ross finished with 12.
The Greyhounds shot 46 percent from the floor, making 22 of 48 field-goal attempts. Penn Valley was 24 of 55 for 44 percent.
Allen and Freeman each had 5 rebounds but Penn Valley controlled the boards, winning 37-28.
Owens had 8 assists.
Though the 'Hounds lost, the long-term goal is not out of reach, Cook says.
"Our record isn't a testament of who we are," he said. "We'll grow. We're playing tough teams. We're going to be read for region and conference. Our goal is to win conference and we're still 0-0 in conference."
The Greyhounds hosted the Westminister junior varsity Monday night. That summary can be seen on this website Wednesday morning.
PENN VALLEY: T.Lamb 2-6 0-0 6, Sorrells 6-15 8-9 22, Shackelford 2-9 0-0 5, Warren 4-6 0-0 8, Powell 0-0 0-0 0, B.Johnson 2-3 0-0 4, E.Lamb 0-1 1-2 1, Ross 4-8 0-0 12, Sims 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 4-7 5-10 13, Mulkey 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24-55 14-21 71.
FORT SCOTT: Walker 2-6 0-0 5, Allen 7-10 9-12 24, Fleming 6-13 2-2 19, Cerda 0-2 0-0 0, Brull 1-2 0-0 3, Oliver 2-5 0-0 4, Owens 1-6 3-4 6, Thompson 1-1 0-0 2, Freeman 2-3 2-2 6. TOTALS: 22-48 16-20 69.
Halftime: Fort Scott, 33-27.
Three-point field goals: Penn Valley 9-23 (Ross 4-8, T.Lamb 2-4, Sorrells 2-4, Shackleford 1-7), Fort Scott 9-20 (Fleming 5-10, Walker 1-2, Allen 1-2, Brull 1-2, Owens 1-2, Oliver 0-2).
Total fouls: Penn Valley 19, Fort Scott 17. Fouled out: None.
Rebounds: Penn Valley 37 (Williams 9), Fort Scott 28 (Allen 5, Freeman 5). Assists: Penn Valley 13 (B.Johnson 4), Fort Scott 16 (Owens 8). Turnovers: Penn Valley 9, Fort Scott 11. Steals: Penn Valley 5 (Warren 2), Fort Scott 4 (4 with 1 each). Blocked shots: Penn Valley 1 (Williams), Fort Scott 2. (Allen, Oliver).