Tiger boys rally and hold on, 46-45

WILLARD, Mo. -- Thursday night, Fort Scott High's boys staged a rally against Harrison, Ark. on the first night of the Willard Four-State Classic which fell just short, losing by 2 points.

Friday night, the Tigers rallied from a 7-point deficit during the third quarter to take the lead at the start of the fourth, lost it for a bit, then regained it and held on for a 46-45 victory over tournament host Willard, evening their season record at 1-1.

Mason Knopp hit a 3-point shot to start the fourth quarter to give Fort Scott its first lead since early in the second quarter, 37-34. Willard got a field goal from Tanner Griffin and two free throws from Kenny Chambers to regain the lead.

Knopp converted a 3-point play with 4:05 to go to put Fort Scott ahead again, 40-39.

Jacon Bradbury made key free throws with 23 seconds left to make it 44-41. The hosts couldn't get closer than 2 points after that.

Knopp scored 16 points to lead the Tigers while Griffin led Willard with 16.

Willard girls 54, Fort Scott 36.

Ashley Cook's 3-point goal gave the Tigers (0-2) their first lead of the season at 6-5 moments into the second quarter.

The lead was short lived as Ali Perry hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Willard (2-1) the lead with 5:06 left in the half. The hosts never trailed again.

Fort Scott got within 31-26 late in the third when Elisha Hasenplaugh scored 5 straight points.

Hasenplaugh led the Tigers with 12 points while Cook finished with 10. Perry led Willard with 20 points.

Fort Scott played without point guard Abby Denton due to a knee injury she suffered in the third quarter of Thursday night's loss to Harrison. She will likely not play today, either.

Fort Scott's teams take on Broken Arrow, Okla. today. The girls' teams face off at 1 p.m. while the boys play at 4:15. Harrison girls face Willard at 2:30 and Harrison's boys play Willard at 5:45. Both Broken Arrow teams are 2-0 in the tournament after beating Harrison on Friday night. BA's girls on 59-37 while the boys prevailed 77-71.

Girls

FORT SCOTT: Altic 0 0-0 0, B.Brown 1 1-2 3, S.Brown 1 1-3 3, Westhoff 0 1-2 1, Stanley 0 0-0 0, Hale 2 0-0 4, Hasenplaugh 5 2-7 12, A.Cook 2 5-5 10, H.Denton 0 0-0 0, M.Cook 1 1-6 3. TOTALS: 12 11-25 36.

WILLARD, Mo.: Burch 2 2-4 7, Kurtz 0 0-0 0, Perry 6 5-11 20, Stewart 2 7-9 11, Yates 2 1-3 5, Williamson 1 3-5 5, Wade 0 0-0 0, Stout-Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Bradley 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 15 20-34 54.

Willard... 5 20 9 20 -- 54

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 1 (A.Cook), Willard 4 (Perry 3, Burch).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 27, Harrison 19. Fouled out: Hasenplaugh, A.Cook.

Boys

FORT SCOTT: DeLaTorre 3 2-3 9, Smith 1 1-1 3, Brown 1 4-6 4, Hudiburg 0 0-0 0, Bradbury 0 2-2 2, Fink 1 3-4 5, Knopp 5 5-5 16, Reehl 1 2-2 5, Labbe 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 19-23 46.

WILLARD, Mo.: McGinnis 4 2-9 10, Hollomon 1 0-0 3, Chambers 2 3-4 9, Griffin 7 2-2 16, Johnson 1 0-1 2, Bird 1 0-0 3, Powell 0 0-0 0, Mayse 0 0-0 0, Thigbaum 0 2-2 2, Henderson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 9-18 45.

Willard... 12 16 7 10 -- 45

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 3 (DeLaTorre, Knopp, Reehl), Willard 4 (Chambers 2, Hollomon, Bird).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 17, Willard 19. Fouled out: None.