Pittsburg sweeps Tigers in SEK twinbill

PITTSBURG -- Pittsburg swept Fort Scott High here Tuesday night in a Southeast Kansas League basketball doubleheader. The Purple Dragon girls' squad took a 52-38 win while the boys held off a Tiger rally to prevail 61-58.

Fort Scott's boys (1-3 SEK, 2-5 overall) trailed by as many as 13 points in the third quarter but managed to get within three with 15 seconds left when Austin Cook came out of a scramble for a loose ball and scored.

That cut the deficit to 59-56. But Dylan Untereker, who made 14 of 18 free-throw attempts for Pittsburg, put in both free shots with 13 seconds to go.

Devonte Robinson scored for the Tigers to get the gap down to three again. But by the time Fort Scott was able to foul, there were just 6/10ths of a second remaining. Spencer Turnbull didn't make either of his free throws and there wasn't enough time for the Tigers to do anything with the rebound.

Kaleb DeLaTorre led Fort Scott with 22 points as he made all 9 of his free throws. Robinson added 13 points, 7 of them in the fourth quarter.

Untereker finished with 26 points for Pittsburg (3-2, 4-4). Marque English added 10.

Pittsburg has won its last four games after an 0-4 start. It's the first four-game winning streak for the Purple Dragons since they began the 2012-13 season with five in a row.

Fort Scott held a 9-6 lead midway through the first quarter after Robinson scored a basket. But the Dragons scored the next eight, going ahead for good.

Pittsburg widened the margin to 27-13 midway through the second but the Tigers rallied, scoring 11 of the next 14. Turnbull's basket capped the first half with the Dragons up 32-24.

Pittsburg led 47-35 neat the end of the fourth. DeLaTorre made three free throws after he was fouled attempting to beat the buzzer with a 3-point shot and also opened the fourth with a triple to bring the Tigers within 47-40.

Pittsburg was up 58-50 with 1:11 to go. Robinson stuck back a teammate's missed shot and DeLaTorre scored after a steal on the inbound pass to bring Fort Scott within four points.

With 38 fouls called, there were a lot of free throws. The Tigers made 15 of 17 and the Dragons converted 20 of 29.

Pittsburg girls 52, Fort Scott 38.

The Tigers (1-3, 2-5) led most of the first quarter and went into the second with a 13-10 lead. But Fort Scott managed just 13 points total in the second and third periods combined as the second-place Dragons took control.

Fort Scott led one last time at 20-18 following an Ashley Cook basket. But Logan Lord tied the score with a pair of free throws with 24 seconds to go and Daeshia Turner put Pittsburg in front with two more with 12 seconds left.

Pittsburg never trailed again. The Dragons outscored the Tigers 11-3 to start the second half, making it 33-23 on Mary Garrett's 3-pointer.

The Dragons also scored the first 9 points of the fourth to make it 43-26. Abbie Casper scored 9 of her 11 points in the period to help Pittsburg put things away.

Ashlee Beitzinger scored 12 of her team-leading 16 points in the first half for Pittsburg. Taylor Muff added 11 points before fouling out.

Cook led the Tigers with 16 points. Fort Scott only had nine field goals but made 18 of 26 free throws.

Fort Scott's teams host Girard Friday night in a non-league doubleheader at the FSHS gymnasium. The varsity girls tip things off at 6 p.m.

Girard's boys are 7-0 following an 85-26 shellacking of Columbus Tuesday night. Trojan girls are 6-1 after beating Columbus 61-33. Both teams have the best record among Crawford-Neosho-Cherokee League teams (the league has not yet begun league play).

NOTES -- Parsons' boys defeated Independence, 64-46, Tuesday night to stop the Bulldogs' 22-game winning streak in SEK play. The last time the defending champs lost a league game was on Jan. 10, 2014, at Fort Scott.

Parsons broke a 2-game losing streak and improved to 3-2, 6-2. Indy fell to 3-1, 5-3 and into a tie for the league lead with Coffeyville (5-3 overall), which defeated Chanute, 43-41....

Pittsburg is a half-game behind Labette County (4-0, 7-0) in girls' play. Chanute is a full game behind in third place at 3-1, 7-1 after getting past Coffeyville, 57-35....

Both Tiger teams will play in the Frontenac Tournament next week. Seedings for that tourney should be released Thursday....

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GIRLS

FORT SCOTT: Torres 0 0-0 0, Brown 1 1-1 3, Westhoff 1- 3-4 5, J.Denton 1 0-0 2, Hale 2 1-2 5, A.Cook 4 6-6 16, Dwyer 0 0-1 0, H.Denton 0 0-0 0, M. Cook 0 6-8 6, Reed 0 1-4 1. TOTALS: 9 18-26 38.

PITTSBURG: As.Beitzinger 5 6-6 16, Lord 1 2-3 4, Muff 5 0-0 11, S.Bollinger 0 0-0 0, Casper 4 3-4 11, Garrett 2 0-3 5, Wilks 0 0-0 0, Curtis 0 0-0 0, Au.Beitzinger 0 0-0 0, Aa.Kerr 0 0-0 0, Turner 1 3-4 5, Kidd 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 14-20 52.

Fort Scott...... 13 7 6 12 -- 38

Pittsburg...... 10 12 12 18 -- 52

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 2 (A.Cook 2), Pittsburg 2 (Muff, Garrett).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 17, Pittsburg 21. Fouled out: Muff.

BOYS

FORT SCOTT: DeLaTorre 5 9-9 22, Southwell 2 0-0 4, Hudiburg 3 2-2 8, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Phillips 0 0-0 0, Stepps 1 0-0 2, Robinson 5 2-2 13, Cook 1 2-4 4, Jones 2 0-0 5. TOTALS: 19 15-17 58

PITTSBURG: Rogers 2 0-0 5, Harris 2 2-2 6, Turnbull 2 1-5 5, Untereker 6 14-18 26, English 4 2-2 10, Scroggins 2 1-2 6, Messam 0 0-0 0, Curtis 0 0-0 0, Winter 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 18 20-29 61.

Fort Scott..... 11 13 13 21 -- 58

Pittsburg...... 14 18 15 12 -- 61

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 5 (DeLaTorre 3, Robinson, Jones), Pittsburg 3 (Rogers, Scroggins, Winter).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 12, Pittsburg 16. Fouled out: Stepps.