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Comets escape after denied shot
At first, there was joy.
Then, there was trepidation.
Finally, there was disbelief.
When all was said and done, an apparent buzzer-beating, game-tying rebound and basket by Fort Scott's Alex Barner was waved off because of a foul and Chanute escaped the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night with a 53-51 win in Southeast Kansas League play.
But it didn't have to come to this. The Tigers, 1-3 in the SEK and 3-4 overall, held the lead at the end of each of the first three quarters as the momentum constantly shifted.
Ultimately, it was the errors Fort Scott made during the game -- 21 turnovers, for example -- that proved most costly.
"We made a lot of mistakes," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "We just made way too many mistakes again and we have to figure some things out. But I am proud of how we battled and fought. We had a lot of adversity tonight, some injury issues, and foul trouble. It seemed like everything that could go against us was in those regards. We were able to hang in there but we didn't get it done in the end."
Chanute remained unbeaten on the season: 5-0 in the SEK and 6-0 overall.
An injury suffered by Drew Messer last Tuesday at Independence gave sophomore Gary Floyd a chance to start. Messer himself had been starting in place of Matt Wheeler, who has a broken hand.
But the scariest moment came near the end of the second half when Barner landed awkwardly while trying to defend Devon Crabtree's three-point shot near the end of the first half. Barner had to be helped off the court but came back to play in the second half.
It's become clear that Barner, a junior, is now the go-to scorer. he already had 17 points at the half then managed to finish with 25 points and nine boards on the injured ankle.
"(Barner) gritted it out and came back," DeLaTorre said. "He didn't quite have the same explosiveness in the second half as the first but he found ways to score. He's a heck of a player. He did a good job but we just came up a little short."
Barner scored eight of the Tigers' first 10 points as the redclads jumped out to a 10-4 lead after 3 1/2 minutes.
The Blue Comets scrapped back, getting within 12-11 with 33 seconds remaining on Mark Ward's converted steal.
But Messer took a long pass from Floyd and hit a 22-foot shot from the right wing at the buzzer to make it a 15-11 lead at the first break.
Neither side could pull away in the second period -- the largest lead was three points -- and it was Barner's free throws with 22 seconds remaining that put the Tigers up 28-26 going into intermission.
Floyd scored five of the first six points of the second half to extend the lead to six. And it looked like maybe the Tigers could finally put the Comets away after a 7-0 run capped by Jeff Johnson's layup made it 42-31 with 1:38 to go in the period.
But Ty Blanchard hit a three from 22 feet and Crabtree stuck back a teammate's miss to bring Chanute within six by the end of the quarter. Crabtree also scored the first basket of the final stanza to close the deficit to 42-38.
Tony Karleskint, then Barner scored layup to push the lead back to eight. But Ward converted an "old-fashioned" three-point play and Crabtree hit a triple from the left side to being the Comets within 46-44 with 6:10 to go.
John Leek made two free throws for the Tigers. Ward answered with a three-pointer to bring Chanute within one with 4:30 left.
Barner took a pass from Karleskint and scored a layup with 4:17 to go, making the lead 50-47. However, this turned out to be Fort Scott's last field goal of the night.
Craig Gilmore stuck back a missed shot for Chanute. Then Crabtree made two free throws with 2:35 remaining that gave the Comets their first lead of the night, 51-50.
Ward made two free throws with 51 seconds left. Gilmore was fouled as he made a steal and got two free throws as the Comets were in the double bonus. However, he missed both shots and Messer got the rebound for the Tigers.
Karleskint was fouled with 21.7 seconds left and made the first free throw. Jake Clements got the rebound after the second shot missed.
The Tigers called time out with 18.2 seconds to go, then saw what Chanute was doing on defense and called another with 9.9 seconds left.
After the second time out, Floyd drove for the basket and took a short jumper. It missed and Barner seemingly got the rebound and put in the tying basket just as the final horn sounded.
However, one official was waving off the basket. After a conference with all three officials, it was ruled that Barner was over the back of a Chanute player on the rebound. The basket was no good.
"You have to hand it to Chanute," DeLaTorre said. "They played well. They did the things down the stretch they needed to do to win the game. We're obviously disappointed but I'm proud of how we played and the heart that we showed.
"There's some upset people in that locker room. They hate to lose as much as I do. We have good kids and I have confidence that we'll turn this around. But we have to learn from some of the mistakes we've made and we have to come back from the break ready to go and ready to improve as a team."
Fort Scott shot 47 percent from the field, making 18 of 38 shots as a team. Chanute made the same number of field goals on 43 shots for 42 percent.
Each team also made 13 free throws but Chanute made four three-point shots compared to two for the Tigers.
Fort Scott also won the rebounding battle, 26-24.
Ward finished with 22 points to lead Chanute while Crabtree added 19. The two combined to make 14 of 27 field-goal attempts and 10 of 13 free throws.
Karleskint dished four assists for the Tigers. Barner and Clements each had four steals.
Fort Scott won't see game action again until Jan. 4 when Parsons is scheduled to visit. DeLaTorre said the time off will be good as the Tigers need to heal from some of their injuries and also find a way to correct some of their errors.
"We need a little break but we also need to improve on some things," DeLaTorre said. "When we come back, we're going to get after it. I told them that we're not going to stand for anything but our best effort from here on out."
JUNIOR VARSITY -- Clements scored 10 points while Brandon Boyd added nine in the Tigers' 53-46 win over Chanute.
FRESHMEN -- The frosh improved to 2-2 after thumping Chanute, 70-48. Griffin Knopp led the Tigers with 24 points, seven steals and five rebounds. Gabe Quick scored 16 points for Fort Scott while Cody Harper finished with 10.
NOTES -- Coffeyville remained unbeaten in the SEK (3-0 with a 3-1 overall mark) after beating Columbus, 75-66, Tuesday night. The Tigers are in seventh place, an unusual position, but this is probably where the new double-round robin schedule helps as the Tigers will have a chance to avenge each of their losses while the top teams continue to fight each other....