Thisdarn close: 'Hounds rally from 11-point deficit, fall at buzzer

Fort Scott's Bryce Kemp takes a shot near the end of the first half of Wednesday night's game against Allen County at Arnold Arena. This shot went in and Kemp also made two key free throws late in the game as he finished with seven points. Allen County was able to hold off a Greyhound rally and prevail, 68-66. (FSCC photo/Kathleen Hinrichs)

Games that start off with a 14-2 run usually turn into affairs when everyone starts to wonder just when it will finally end.

But not in this case. Fort Scott Community College's men not only erased that early deficit, but also rallied again later in Wednesday night's game as Allen County tried to put them away again.

Fort Scott wasn't going to have any of it, however, and found themselves on the short side of a 68-66 final score by perhaps mere inches.

"We focused on staying with it," Fort Scott head coach Mike Cook said. "Our motto is 'five, five and five.' If we can be within five or up by five with five minutes go to, I know we'll be fine because we have enough heart to finish the game."

The Greyhounds trailed Allen County 62-51 with under three minutes remaining in this heated Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division contest. But Darrell Blanton started the comeback with a stickback in transition with exactly two minutes left.

Then Kurklin Bohanon hit consecutive three-point goals. Allen County's Micah Handley, Jr. made a layup with 1:10 left to put the Red Devils up 64-59.

But Kyren Gantt -- in the game for the first time -- hit a three-point shot from the left side with 56 seconds left. Then Blanton was fouled on a layup with 47 seconds go to to tie it.

"Kyren is a shooter and I'm trying to find more minutes for him," Cook said. "He's Kurklin's backup and Kurklin's hitting threes. We have to find a way to play them together. He shoots like that every day in practice, so I have to find a way to get him more minutes he can do that for us."

Blanton had a chance to put the 'Hounds (1-6 East, 7-12 overall) ahead with a free throw to make it a three-point play. But one of the Greyhounds entered the lane too soon.

Then Allen's Anthony Clagett put the Devils (5-2, 10-9) ahead again as he drove and got fouled on a layup with 25 seconds left. But he missed the ensuing free throw and Blanton got the rebound.

Bryce Kemp was fouled with 10 seconds left and made both free throws to tie the score at 66-66. Clagett took the inbound pass and drove all the way for what proved to be the winning score with three seconds left.

Both teams were out of time outs, so the 'Hounds had to act fast. Bruce Brooks got off a 35-foot shot at the buzzer that hit the back of the rim and bounced away.

Blanton finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds for the 'Hounds while Bohanon added 19 points. Matt Nelson led Allen County with 15 points, Andrea Bailey had 14 and Handley finished with 12.

Fort Scott started the game badly on both sides of the ball. Allen County scored the game's first eight points and Nelson hit two three pointers as the Devils went up 14-2. The 'Hounds missed 11 of their first 12 shots from the field.

But Fort Scott stuck with it and scored the last nine points of the half to get within 32-27 at the half.

"I told them, 'If everybody gives up every time it gets tough, you're never going to finish what you started'," Cook said. "'So let's just keep fighting and see what happens. Leave it on the floor.' And they did; I'm proud of them. I couldn't say anything in the locker room except 'Great job.' The effort is there. We have to learn to close out big games.

"The learning curve is there, growing pains, but I know we'll get there. In the next two games, we'll turn the corner."

The 'Hounds got their only lead of the night, 44-43, when Blanton stuck back a teammate's miss with 12:06 to go in the second half. It was short-lived, however, as the Devils scored 19 of the next 26 points to go up 62-51.

ALLEN COUNTY: Handley, Jr. 5-7 2-2 12, Jackson 3-7 2-2 9, Clagett 3-6 2-7 8, Cole 1-2 1-2 4, Hayes 1-5 0-0 2, Richardson 2-5 0-1 4, Nelson 4-7 3-4 15, Bailey 6-10 2-3 15. TOTALS: 25-49 12-21 68.

FORT SCOTT: Bohanon 6-15 2-4 19, Kemp 2-10 3-3 7, Gantt 1-1 0-0 3, Dougherty 0-3 0-2 0, Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor 4-7 1-3 9, Kellogg 1-1 0-0 2, Brown 0-5 0-0 0, Blanton 11-18 2-2 24, Brooks 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS: 26-63 8-14 66.

Halftime: Allen County, 32-27.

Three-point field goals: Allen County 6-17 (Nelson 4-6, Cole 1-1, Jackson 1-5, Handley, Jr. 0-2, Hayes 0-3), Fort Scott 6-18 (Bohanon 5-10, Gantt 1-1, Kemp 0-1, Dougherty 0-1, Wilson 0-1, Brooks 0-1, Brown 0-3).

Total fouls: Allen County 14, Fort Scott 19. Fouled out: Taylor. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: Allen County 30 (Bailey 8), Fort Scott 41 (Blanton 12). Assists: Allen County 16 (Jackson 7), Fort Scott 9 (Kemp 4). Turnovers: Allen County 16, Fort Scott 17. Steals: Allen County 8 (Bailey 4), Fort Scott 8 (Bohanon, Blanton 3 each). Blocked shots: Allen County 1 (Richardson), Fort Scott 4 (four with 1 each).