Girls drop first two in Tri-State Classic

WILLARD, Mo. — Fort Scott High School’s girls lost in a close, hard-fought battle in Thursday’s opener of the annual Willard (Mo.) Tri-State Classic. But on Friday, the host school used a pair of long scoring runs to drop the Tigers to 0-2 on the season.

Fort Scott will face Harrison, Ark., this afternoon at 1 p.m., looking to finish third in the four-team tournament.

Thursday: Bentonville West 40, Fort Scott 37.

Only one point was scored in the game’s final four minutes, that being a free throw by Ashaundi Henry that extended the Wolverines’ lead to 3 points with six seconds to go.

Kharsyn Dwyer scored for the Tigers with 4:05 remaining to bring her team within 39-37. West turned the ball over while running a play with 42 seconds left but Fort Scott turned it back over seconds later, forcing the Tigers to foul Henry.

The Tigers tried for one more shot but were not able to get one away before the final buzzer sounded.

The largest lead of the game for either side was 5 points. The Tigers accomplished that twice. The first time came when Jocie Allen made a pair of free throws in the first quarter to put Fort Scott ahead 12-7. But the Wolverines rallied, scoring the last 7 points. They took the lead into the second quarter when Shania Wilson scored with 48 seconds left.

Fort Scott took the lead twice in the second quarter but West rallied both times and went into the locker room with a 23-21 lead after Allie Clifton scored with 50 seconds remaining.

Dwyer hit a 3-pointer and Maddie Cook followed with a 2-pointer to give Fort Scott its second 5-point lead, 30-25, with 4:12 left in the third. But like the previous times, West rallied to tie.

Cook hit a 3-pointer with 2:16 to go. But Anna Kash hit one of her own to tie the score at 33-33 with 1:42 left. The score remained tied until Kash took a missed free throw and stuck it back in early in the fourth. Henry scored with exactly five minutes left to boost the lead to 37-33.

Jenny Denton scored to bring Fort Scott within 2 with 4:40 left. Imani Montgomery scored moments later to make it 39-35 in West’s favor.

Cook led all scorers with 17 points as she made three 3-pointers. Skyelar Brown added 9 for the Tigers. Kelsie Mahone led the Wolverines with 13 points as she also hit three 3-point shots.

Friday: Willard 72, Fort Scott 48.

Fort Scott held an 8-6 lead after 4 1/2 minutes of play as Cook scored the first 5 points for the Tigers.

But over the end of the first quarter and the start of the second, Willard used an 11-0 run to take a 17-8 lead and never looked back.

Behind solid 3-point shooting, Willard was able to push the margin to 29-16 at the half. A 17-2 run midway through the third made it 52-23 with about 2 1/2 minutes to go.

Willard made 10 3-point shots on the night. Nona Adamson made four of them as she finished with 12 points. Megan Mayhan led her team with 14 points while Josie Sanders also scored 12.

Cook finished with 16 points despite being in foul trouble in the third quarter. She scored 11 in the fourth.

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Thursday’s Game

BENTONVILLE WEST: Wilson 4 0-2 8, Mahone 4 2-2 13, Montgomery 1 0-0 2, Reed 0 0-0 0, Kultgen 0 0-0 0, Kash 3 1-2 8, Henry 2 2-4 6, Clifton 1 1-2 3, Woods 0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 15 6-14 40.

FORT SCOTT: J.Allen 0 2-2 2, Brown 3 1-2 9, Denton 1 0-0 2, Stumfoll 1 0-0 2, Dwyer 2 0-0 5, Humble 0 0-1 0, Cook 6 2-4 17, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Beth 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 5-9 37.

B’ville West.. 14 9 10 7 — 40

Fort Scott...... 12 9 12 4 — 37

Three-point field goals: Bentonville West 4 (Mahone 3, Kash), Fort Scott 6 (Cook 3, Brown 2, Dwyer).

Total fouls: Bentonville West 17, Fort Scott 19. Fouled out: None.

Friday’s Game

FORT SCOTT: J.Allen 0 4-6 4, Brown 2 2-5 6, Denton 2 0-0 4, Stumfoll 2 1-2 5, Dwyer 1 0-0 2, Humble 1 0-0 2, Cook 5 6-10 16, Nelson 0 3-4 3, Beth 2 2-2 6. TOTALS: 15 18-29 48

WILLARD: J.Allen 0 2-2 2, Brown 3 1-2 9, DeWade 2 2-4 7, Bird 1 4-8 7, Adamson 4 0-0 12, Drennan 2 0-0 6, Stout-Mitchell 4 2-6 10, Sanders 3 6-10 12, Mayhan 5 2-2 14, Burson 2 0-1 4, Lindsey 0 0-1 0, Rothling 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 16-32 72.

Fort Scott....... 8 8 15 17 — 48

Willard........... 11 18 24 19 — 72

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott none, Willard 10 (Adamson 4, Drenan 2, Mayhan 2, Wade, Bird).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 24, Willard 23. Fouled out: Nelson, Drennan, Sanders. Technical foul: Cook.