Tiger girls climb into 1st-place tie

PARSONS -- Fort Scott High's girls climbed into a tie for first place with idle Coffeyville Tuesday night following a 56-22 victory over Parsons in Southeast Kansas League play at the Harold C. Johnson Gymnasium.

Fort Scott's boys, winners of three of their last four games, are now within a game of the .500 mark after beating Parsons, 65-52.

Tiger girls (7-2 SEK, 13-4 overall) were challenged by Parsons (0-10, 3-13) early on even though the Vikings were without three starters. Parsons led 8-2 with about three minutes remaining in the first quarter. And both Fort Scott points were from two free throws by Jillian Lattimer.

But Katren Rienbolt got Fort Scott going with what turned out to be her only score of the night and Ashley Cook followed up with a 3-point shot. That kick-started the Tigers' offense, which went on to outscore Parsons 45-6 during a span of about 15 minutes of game time.

The Tigers started the fourth quarter with a 50-18 lead, which put the 30-point running clock rule into effect.

Ashley Cook led the Tigers with 18 points, which included four 3-point goals, followed by Elisha Hasenplaugh with 13.

Kenya Kelly, who didn't score when Parsons lost at Fort Scott on January 7, led the Vikings with 11 points in this game.

This was Parsons' 22nd consecutive league defeat.

Fort Scott boys 65, Parsons 52.

The teams went back-and-fourth during the first quarter almost trading score for score but the Tigers (4-5, 8-9) lead 14-12 at the first break.

While there were no long runs in the game, Fort Scott had enough brief outbursts that it was able to take control.

Parsons, which has lost 20 of its last 22 SEK games, managed to get within 9, 54-45, with a less than 1:30 to go. But the Tigers made 9 of 10 free throws in the final 1:22.

Kaleb DeLaTorre led the Tigers in scoring for the second straight night, putting in 17 points as he made 8 of 9 free throws. Mason Knopp followed with 12 and Garin Sinn added 11.

Isaiah Taylor led Parsons with 18 points followed by Elyjah Lyons with 14.

This concluded a stretch of four games in six days for both Tiger teams. They'll be able to take a couple of day off before going to Independence Friday.

Independence's teams swept Labette County in SEK play Tuesday night. Bulldog girls, who are in third place, improved to 7-3, 12-5 with a 57-42 win. The boys moved in front of idle Coffeyville for first place at 8-2, 14-3 with a 53-36 win over third-place Labette County (6-3, 11-4). The Bulldogs outscored the Grizzlies 14-4 in the fourth quarter.

Girls

FORT SCOTT: Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, Rooks 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Denton 1 1-2 4, Westhoff 1 0-0 2, Allen 3 1-2 8, Rienbolt 1 0-0 2, Hasenplaugh 6 1-2 13, Cook 7 0-0 18, Lawrence 0 3-4 3, Lattimer 2 2-2 6, Hale 0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 21 8-14 56.

PARSONS: B.Dunlay 0 0-2 0, Forbes 0 0-0 0, Mo.Hizey 0 0-0 0, S.Dunlay 1 0-2 2, Johnson 0 0-2 0, Reyes 0 0-0 0, K.Kelly 4 3-4 11, Me.Hizey 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 1-2 3, Larsen 2 0-3 4. TOTALS: 9 4-15 22.

Parsons..................... 8 6 4 4 -- 22

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 6 (Cook 4, Denton, Allen), Parsons none.

Total fouls: Fort Scott 16, Parsons 13. Fouled out: None.

Boys

FORT SCOTT: DeLaTorre 4 8-9 17, Horn 0 0-0 0, Brown 2 3-5 7, Pytlowany 1 0-0 3, Bradbury 0 0-0 0, Fink 3 3-6 9, Sinn 5 1-4 11, Knopp 4 4-4 12, Olin 3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 22 19-28 65.

PARSONS: Harris 0 0-0 0, Drisdell 2 0-0 6, Johnson 3 2-4 8, Taylor 8 2-7 18, Wells 1 0-0 2, Dickinson 2 0-0 4, Lyons 6 0-0 14. TOTALS: 22 4-11 52.

Parsons.................... 12 7 11 22 -- 52

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 2 (DeLaTorre, Pytlowany), Parsons 4 (Drisdell 2, Lyons 2).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 13, Parsons 25. Fouled out: Wells, Lyons.