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'Hounds find a will and a way
On an afternoon when most things didn't seem to be going the Greyhounds' way, Fort Scott Community College's women fought through overtime for a 70-65 victory in Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play Saturday at Arnold Arena.
Fort Scott sophomore Leondra Doomes-Stephens struggled in the first half, Johnson County had long scoring runs and the Greyhounds inadvertently did as much as they could to give the game away in the last 10 seconds of regulation.
But in the extra session, the things the Cavaliers had been doing wrong most of the day -- turnovers and poor rebounding -- finally came back to haunt them.
Monet Fernandes' layup with 1:30 remaining gave the 'Hounds (1-2 East, 8-7 overall) the lead for good, 67-65, with 1:03 remaining.
"I think we needed a win like this to see that we can overcome challenges being young and growing up," Fort Scott head coach Stasha Richards said. "I hope today is the first step in us growing up and moving forward. Our immaturity has shown in our first two conference games and I hope that we will move forward from this."
Doomes-Stephens, who came into the game as the Jayhawk Conference's leading scorer, struggled in the first half. Although she finished the game with 26 points, she was just four of 14 from the field for nine points at the break.
Valencia Kelly stepped up and helped keep the 'Hounds in the contest despite a 14-0 run by Johnson County (1-2, 7-7) that put the Cavaliers up 28-19 with 6:45 left in the first half.
Two baskets by Doomes-Stephens, who made just one of her first seven shots, and a three-pointer by Sherokee Bloodworth off the bench brought Fort Scott within 31-33 with 2:12 to go. Amanda Dittmer hit a three-point basket for Johnson County at the two-minute mark and neither side scored again the rest of the half.
Kelly and Doomes-Stephens combined to score all but two of Fort Scott's 31 second-half points. A 16-foot jumper by Doomes-Stephens put the 'Hounds up 62-59 with 29 seconds left.
Kylie Shepard was fouled after a long rebound with 10 seconds remaining but missed the front end of the one-and-one free-throw opportunity. The Cavaliers got the rebound and Dittmer hit the tying three-pointer with one second left. Dittmer also stole the inbound pass but a potential game-winning shot hit the rim and bounced away.
"We're still very young mentally," Richards said. "But hopefully, we're learning and growing up mentally and challenging ourselves. That's what we've got to do to win games and get better."
Doomes-Stephens converted a three-point play to start overtime. But the Cavs tied it with a Dittmer basket and Melissa Nelson making the second of a two-shot foul.
Kelly also scored 26 points as she converted 12 of 26 field-goal attempts. But no other Greyhound had more than seven points.
"We've got to have a third scorer. Teams are going to stop Leondra," Richards said. "We've got to have other people step up and help. Valencia did that tonight. Kylie's got to hit some big shots. We played everyone on our bench except two people who were injured, so everyone's got to come in and play their part."
The Greyhounds will play host to Independence at 5 p.m. Wednesday night. The Pirates upset No. 23 Cowley, 57-47, Saturday night.
JOHNSON COUNTY: Bechard 0-5 0-0 0, Dittimer 8-15 2-2 24, Barnes 0-5 0-0 0, Morrison 0-0 0-0 0, Willis 0-2 0-0 0, Nelson 4-10 5-6 14, Shows 8-13 1-4 17, Nietzke 2-6 0-0 5, Naab 1-5 2-2 5. TOTALS: 23-61 10-14 65.
FORT SCOTT: Doomes-Stephens 10-27 6-8 26, Shepard 1-8 2-3 5, Bloodworth 1-4 0-0 3, Duplechin 1-4 1-2 3, Hampton 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Kelly 12-26 2-4 26, Okornkwo 0-0 0-0 0, Jackon 0-1 0-0 0, Fernandes 3-6 1-2 7, Ellis 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-82 12-19 70.
Halftime: Johnson County, 36-31. End of regulation: tied, 62-62.
Three-point field goals: Johnson County 9-28 (Dittier 6-12, Nietzke 1-2, Nelson 1-3, Naab 1-4, Barnes 0-3, Bechard 0-4), Fort Scott 2-19 (Bloodworth 1-4, Shepard 1-8, Duplechin 0-1, Kelly 0-1, Doomes-Stephens 0-5).
Total fouls: Johnson County 16, Fort Scott 17. Fouled out: Shows. Technical fouls: Willis (jewlery on court).
Rebounds: Johnson County 34 (Shows 14), Fort Scott 60 (Doomes-Stephens 18, Kelly 10). Assists: Johnson County 6 (Shows 3), Fort Scott 10 (Doomes-Stephens 7). Turnovers: Johnson County 16, Fort Scott 18. Steals: Johnson County 8 (Nelson, Shows 2 each), Fort Scott 10 (Domes-Stephens 4). Blocked shots: Johnson County none, Fort Scott 2 (Doomes-Stephens 2).