Chanute holds Fort Scott girls in two-point affair

Fort Scott's Katren Rienbolt (22) launches a shot from just inside the 3-point line as Chanute's Brenna Olson is late to defend on a first-half play Friday night. Rienbolt scored 21 points for the Tigers, who fell to the Blue Comets, 45-42, in Southeast Kansas League play. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

FORT SCOTT -- Brenna Olson preserved victory for visiting Chanute by stealing a pass on the inside with under five seconds remaining Friday night as the Blue Comets held off Fort Scott High's girls, 45-42, in Southeast Kansas League play.

Chanute (1-2 SEK, 6-9 overall) tried to pull away in the fourth quarter, extending its lead to 34-26 with six minutes to go. But Fort Scott (2-1, 5-10) was able to trade one- and two-point possessions for three-point possessions and make some headway.

"I thought the girls played a pretty decent ball game," Fort Scott head coach Jeff Armstrong said. "It felt different than some of our losses. I thought they played with a lot of effort and that was good.

"Chanute's a solid team. I think both of us have a better team than what the record shows. Tonight was a battle and Chanute came up the winner. Hopefully, we can rebound from this because we have another tough one Tuesday (at Parsons)."

Maddie Allen's 3-point goal from the right side narrowed the deficit to 42-40 with 49 seconds left. Bailey Erickson scored for Chanute and drew a foul. But, luckily for the Tigers, she missed the free throw with 42 seconds left.

Mallory Shelton took a pass from Brianne Lawrence and scored a layup with 33 seconds left to bring Fort Scott within 44-42. Shelton fouled Morgan Olson with 24 seconds to go and she missed both free throws.

Fort Scott brought the rebound to the front court and called time out with 15 seconds to go. Brenna Olson got her steal moments later and made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to provide the final margin.

Katren Rienbolt scored 21 points for the Tigers while Lawrence finished with 11. Rienboldt made 7 of 14 shots from the field, including two 3-pointers. Lawrence had a more difficult time as the Comets were falling back on Fort Scott's post players.

"Kat did a great job and we expect a lot from her," Armstrong said. "She plays probably 30 of the 32 minutes if not more. She's sometimes guarding their best player. She's expected to score and do a lot for us. There's a lot of pressure there and she does a good job for us.

"We do need to find some more scoring. Brianne and Kat gave us what they needed to and Mal gave us some big points. Maddie hit a big three. We need to find 3-4-5 points from some other players."

Chanute was leading 7-6 with around three minutes left in the first quarter when an unusual event happened. A Chanute fan was ejected by one of the officials and as he made his way out of the gym, he walked by the Fort Scott bench and said something to Armstrong.

Armstrong said he actually didn't notice that the spectator said anything to him because he was focused on the game. But after that, Shelton converted a 3-point play to put Fort Scott ahead.

The Comets got a pair of 3-point goals to end the first period and take a 13-9 lead. The scoring paced slowed in the second for both teams but Chanute was able to hold a 5-point lead at the half after Erickson hit a 3-point shot with three seconds left.

The Tigers scored 8 of the first 9 of the second half and reclaimed the lead, 24-22, on Rienbolt's 3-pointer from the right side with 3:42 left. Chanute's Macy Flowers a 6' 1" post player, scored the last 5 points of the period to give the Comets a 27-24 lead going into the final stanza.

Lawrence made a pair of free throws to start the fourth quarter, but Chanute scored the next 7 points.

Erickson led the Comets with 12 points while Brenna Olson added 10. Morgan Olson hauled down 10 rebounds.

Fort Scott shot 37 percent from the field, making 13 of 35 field-goal attempts after going 6 for 12 in the fourth. Chanute made 6 of 9 fourth-quarter shots and finished at 41 percent on 16 of 39.

Rienbolt also had 7 rebounds for the Tigers. Lawrence had 3 assists and 2 steals.

The Tigers go to Parsons Tuesday night for another league contest.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Jillian Lattimer's 25 points led Fort Scott to a 44-39 victory over Chanute.

CHANUTE: Erickson 4-8 3-4 12, M.Olson 3-6 2-6 8, Batten 2-2 0-0 5, Trout 1-4 1-2 3, B.Olson 3-11 3-5 10, Richard 0-0 0-0 0, Dar.Rubow 0-2 0-0 0, Flowers 2-4 1-2 5, Dan.Rubow 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS: 16-39 10-21 45.

FORT SCOTT: Tourtillott 0-3 0-0 0, Shoemaker 0-0 0-0 0, Allen 1-4 0-0 3, Rienbolt 7-14 5-7 21, Shelton 2-3 2-3 6, Sd.Maycumber 0-2 1-2 1, Karleskint 0-1 0-3 0, Lattimer 0-0 0-0 0, Lawrence 3-8 5-5 11. TOTALS: 13-35 13-20 42.

Fort Scott....... 9 7 8 18 -- 42

Three-point field goals: Chanute 3-6 (Erickson 1-1, Batten 1-1, B.Olson 1-3, Dar.Rubow 0-1), Fort Scott 3-11 (Rienbolt 2-6, Allen 1-3, Tourtillott 0-2).

Total fouls: Chanute 21, Fort Scott 21. Fouled out: Shelton. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: Chanute 31 (M.Olson 10), Fort Scott 26 (Rienbolt 7). Assists: Chanute 6 (Trout 3), Fort Scott 9 (Lawrence 3). Turnovers: Chanute 22, Fort Scott 21. Steals: Chanute 12 (Trout 4), Fort Scott 6 (Tourtillott 2, Lawrence 2). Blocked shots: Chanute 3 (Trout 2), Fort Scott none.