Tigers devastatingly efficient in opening-round victory

Friday, November 30, 2007

WILLARD, Mo. -- Fort Scott High School's boys got good play from the starting five all the way down to the 10th man on the roster in a devastatingly efficient 74-31 victory over Shiloh Christian of Springdale, Ark., in the first round of the 20th Annual Willard Tri-State Classic here Thursday night.

Granted, the Saints were shorthanded as head coach Greg White said before the game that five of his top eight players -- including three whom he expects to be starters -- weren't able to be with the team because Shiloh's football team is in the semifinal round of the Arkansas state football playoffs.

The Tigers showed no sympathy. Fort Scott's second five ended the contest with a 15-0 run of its own.

"We talked before the game on how we wanted to concentrate on ourselves tonight and work on the things we've been working on in practice," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "We really wanted to execute. And I thought we did a good job of that, especially early in the game."

Fort Scott dished 21 assists in the game, the most since handing out the same number in a 79-31 win over Columbus in a February 2005 game.

The Tigers, playing their season opener, began the contest with an 8-0 run, making four of their first five field-goal attempts. They also kept the Saints, 1-3, without a rebound for the game's first three minutes.

There was also a 13-0 run during the second quarter that made it a 29-10 lead with just under two minutes to go. It was 33-14 at halftime.

Fort Scott also hit each of its first eight shots of the third quarter, using a 14-0 run to extend the cushion to 49-18 with 3:56 remaining.

Up 55-26 going into the fourth, it didn't take long for the Tigers to get the lead up to 30 points. That means the bench players made that last run even though the clock was running continuously.

The Tigers showed off their "new" tall look as the inside trio of 6' 3" Tony Karleskint, 6' 3" Jeff Johnson and 6' 4" Alex Barner combined to score 32 points. But they also showed good ball movement and that they can still score in transition. Senior guard John Leek had a team-high five assists. But the inside trio combined for six assists themselves.

"It's a different look for us," DeLaTorre said. "That's what you get with high-school basketball; your teams change from year to year. We've made some adjustments, put in some new things. All three of those guys bring different things to the table. I think all three are going to cause people trouble this year."

Willard will face Fort Scott tonight. The tournament hosts defeated Greenwood, Ark., 60-46 as Kevin Bracamonte, a 6' 1" junior, scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

FORT SCOTT: Leek 1-3 0-0 3, M.Karleskint 0-1 0-0 0, Clements 3-5 4-5 11, Floyd 4-6 0-0 8, T.Karleskint 6-11 0-1 12, Wheeler 3-4 0-0 7, Messer 1-4 1-2 3, Johnson 3-5 0-0 6, Allen 4-10 2-5 10, Barner 5-11 4-4 14. TOTALS: 30-60 11-17 74.

SHILOH CHRISTIAN: Lookadoo 5-11 0-0 11, Carvajal 1-4 1-2 3, Cole 3-6 1-2 8, McBryde 0-4 0-0 0, Batt 0-0 0-0 0, Berger 0-1 0-0 0, Neal 0-3 0-0 0, Wolfram 0-1 0-0 0, Dantzler 0-3 0-0 0, Hills 2-2 0-1 4, Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 2-5 0-0 5, Fish 0-0 0-0 0, Bradford 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-41 2-5 31.

Fort Scott............. 13 20 22 19 -- 74

Shiloh Christian...... 8 6 12 5 -- 31

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 3-9 (Clements 1-1, Wheeler 1-2, Leek 1-3, Floyd 0-1, Messer 0-1, Allen 0-1), Shiloh Christian 3-17 (Cole 1-2, Jones 1-2, Lookadoo 1-5, Walker 0-1, Carvajal 0-2, Dantzler 0-2, Neal 0-3).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 11, Shiloh Christian 16. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: Fort Scott 43 (T.Karleskint 10), Shiloh Christian 23 (Carvajal 4). Assists: Fort Scott 21 (Leek 5), Shiloh Christian 3 (Carvajal, Cole, Dantzler). Turnovers: Fort Scott 7, Shiloh Christian 19. Steals: Fort Scott 11 (Barner 4), Shiloh Christian 3 (Lookadoo 2). Blocked shots: Fort Scott 3 (T.Karleskint 2), Shiloh Christian 2 (Lookadoo, Berger).