Fort Scott women fall in OT

Fort Scott's Carlie Wilhelmi (left) shoots over Cottey's Alyssa Jones during the first half of play at Arnold Arena Saturday afternoon. Wilhelmi's 12 points and 14 rebounds were not enough to prevent a 64-59 loss to the Comets in overtime. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

Cottey College took control early in overtime and defeated host Fort Scott, 64-59, in the Gladbach Classic at Arnold Arena Saturday afternoon.

Despite a late Cottey run, Fort Scott led 50-46 with 1:41 remaining in regulation time after 6' 3" post Carlie Wilhelmi scored a basket. But then Machela VanGennip made two free throws with 47 seconds left to bring the Comets (6-1) within two points.

Fort Scott's Andrea Valadez missed a layup with 28 seconds left and Sydney Rose got the rebound for Cottey. Cierra Wong scored a layup with 15 seconds left to tie the score, 50-50.

Valadez missed a jumper with eight seconds to go and Wong got the rebound. Cottey got in position for a game-winning shot but was called for traveling with 1.6 seconds left. Fort Scott was unable to get in position to attempt a shot before the buzzer.

Rose hit a 3-point shot from the right wing 47 seconds in to the extra session and Linsey Denney scored in transition with 3:50 on the clock to give the Comets a 55-50 lead. Valadez hit a jumper for the Greyhounds (7-3) and then made one of two free throws with 1:49 left to bring her team within two points.

The Comets had to be careful for the remainder of the game as from that point on, three of their eight players had four fouls each. But Denney hit a jumper from the left wing with 1:05 left, then made two free throws with 44 seconds to go. VanGennip also made two charity tosses with 27 seconds left to make it a 61-53 game.

Kamiron Luptak made a 3-point shot with 17.7 seconds to go for Fort Scott. But there wasn't enough time for the 'Hounds even though Cottey made only 3 of 6 free-throw attempts in the last 16 seconds.

VanGennip led Cottey with 18 points as while Denney finished with 17 and Latasha Griggs added 10. Wilhelmi finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds for Fort Scott. Valadez and Kayleigh Haggard each scored 11 and Luptak finished with 10.

Cottey shot 32 percent from the field, making 21 of 66 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 12 3-point shots. Fort Scott shot just 27 percent on 20 go 73, going 5 of 19 from triple territory.

The Comets won the battle of the boards, 60-47, as Rose grabbed 11 rebounds and Wong finished with 10. Denney and Emily Allen each collected 9 caroms.

Fort Scott scored the game's first 8 points, with Wilhelmi scoring 4 of them. Cottey came back with an 15-2 run that put them in control with 9:53 left in the half. VanGinnip scored 7 in that run, including the first 5.

The Greyhounds rallied to lead 21-18 with 5:08 to go when Lupitak hit the first of her three 3-pointers. VanGinnip tied it for Cottey on a 3-point play, sparking a 9-0 run.

Fort Scott scored 7 of the last 11 of the half but Denney's jumper with 21 seconds to go gave Cottey a 31-28 lead going into the locker room.

The Greyhounds scored 16 of the first 20 points of the second half with Wilhelmi scoring the first 5 points. That put Fort Scott up 44-35 with 8:28 to go.

Allen scored the first 4 points of a 11-2 run for Cottey which tied the score 46-46 with 3:47 remaining on VanGennip's jumper. Haggard then made two free throws to put Fort Scott back in front in advance of Wilhelmi's layup.

Fort Scott, which has lost two of its last three after starting the season 6-1, plays at Neosho County at 5:30 tonight in Chanute. The first game of a doubleheader with the Greyhound men, that game will not count in Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play. The 'Hounds won't play again following that until Dec. 3 when they travel to Salina to take on Brown Mackie.

The Comets and Greyhounds have a rematch at the Hinkhouse Center in Nevada scheduled for December 9.

COTTEY: Griggs 5-8 0-0 10, Allen 2-6 1-2 5, Wong 1-3 0-0 2, Rose 3-10 1-4 9, Denney 5-17 6-9 17, Harris 1-3 1-2 3, Jones 0-3 0-0 0, VenGennip 4-16 9-11 18. TOTALS: 21-66 18-28 64.

FORT SCOTT: Shoulders 2-8 2-3 7, White 0-5 1-2 1, Cicero 1-5 3-4 5, Valadez 4-15 3-4 11, Wilhelmi 5-16 2-3 12, Luptak 3-10 1-2 10, McGuire 0-0 0-0 0, Haggard 4-6 2-2 11, Thorp 1-1 0-0 2, Cole 0-0 0-0 0, McAdams 0-6 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-73 14-20 59.

Halftime: Cottey, 31-28. End of regulation: Tied, 50-50.