Parsons holds off Tiger rally

Fort Scott's Skylear Brown (11) drives by Parsons junior Shay Kelly during the second quarter of action at the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night. Brown scored 10 points for the Tigers but Kelly's 23 included game-clinching free throws with eight seconds to go as the Vikings prevailed, 64-60. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Turnovers helped Parsons' girls get out to a big lead on Fort Scott Friday night. And they almost allowed the Tigers to rally from that deficit.

The Vikings took advantage of seven first-quarter turnovers by the Tigers, which led to 12 points, as they built a 12-point lead. But after holding Fort Scott at bay for three quarters, a splurge of Viking turnovers --six in the final stanza -- almost allowed the Tigers to come all the way back.

Shay Kelly's free throws with eight seconds remaining finally clinched a 64-60 Southeast Kansas League win for the visiting Vikings and kept Fort Scott (0-1 SEK, 0-4 overall) winless on the season.

Parsons (1-0, 2-2) scored the first 5 points of the contest off Fort Scott turnovers. The Vikings scored 9 straight points to build an 18-6 lead with 15 seconds to go. Fort Scott's Ashley Cook hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to cut into the lead and then connected on another to start the second quarter.

Thanks to Cook's effort and strong rebounding, the Tigers were able to keep things close until Parsons rolled off six straight points with Megan Hizey converting a steal into a layup and a 32-20 lead with 3:06 to go.

Aubrey Lawson took another steal in with 1:14 to go. There were no more points the rest of the half, which kept Parsons' lead at 37-24.

The Kellys controlled most of the third quarter for Parsons, combining for every point, each scoring seven of the 14 the Vikes registered. But the lead shrank slightly thanks to a spurt from the combo of Cook and Elisha Hasenplaugh, who combined for 12 points as Fort Scott got within 49-43 with 1:25 to go. Shay Kelly's driving layup with six seconds left stretched Parsons' lead to six.

The fourth quarter arrived and so did the Parsons turnovers. Hasenplaugh and Skylear Brown scored the first four points for Fort Scott but Parsons still managed to hang on to a 57-48 lead after Hizey hit a 3-point shot with 5:22 on the clock.

Then Fort Scott got on a run with freshman Brown scoring first, then Cook stepping past the 3-point line for a jumper. Cook made two free throws, Bailie Brown one of two charity tosses, and Hasenplaugh put back a teammate's miss to tie the score at 57-57 with 2:55 to go.

Kenya Kelly made the first of two free throws with 2:41 left. Shay Kelly came in for the rebound when the second one missed and put the ball back in for a 60-57 lead with 2:36 left.

Karlee Stanley hit a 3-pointer for Fort Scott from the left wing to tie the score one last time, 60-60, with 2:27 to go.

Lawson made two free throws with 29 seconds left after she came in for a rebound after Kenya Kelly missed a shot.

Fort Scott got the ball into the front court. But Lawson stole the ball and got the ball up to Shay Kelly, who was fouled with eight seconds to go.

Shay Kelly led Parsons with 23 points, making 10 of 16 free-throw attempts. Kenya Kelly went 6 of 9 from the field in finishing with 17 points while also grabbing 7 rebounds. Lawson finished with 10 points and 5 steals.

Cook led Fort Scott with 25 points as she made five 3-pointers. Hasenplaugh added 11 points and Skylear Brown finished with 10. Freshman Madison Cook hauled down 10 rebounds.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Fort Scott rolled by Parsons, 36-2, in the JV game as Jenny Denton scored 7 points.

Fort Scott goes to Chanute Friday for an SEK contest.

PARSONS: Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Woodworth 0-0 0-2 0, Dunlay 0-1 0-0 0, Lawson 3-4 4-4 10, Forbes 2-4 0-0 6, S.Kelly 6-12 10-16 23, K.Kelly 6-9 5-9 17, Hizey 3-8 0-0 8. TOTALS: 20-38 19-31 64.

FORT SCOTT:Altic 0-0 0-0 0, B.Brown 0-1 1-2 1, S.Brown 5-9 0-1 10, Westhoff 0-0 0-1 0, Stanley 2-4 0-0 5, Hale 0-3 1-2 1, Hasenplaugh 5-8 1-2 11, A.Cook 9-23 2-2 25, H.Denton 1-2 0-0 2, Bailey 0-0 0-0 0, M.Cook 0-4 5-6 5. TOTALS: 22-54 10-16 60.

Fort Scott... 9 15 19 17 -- 60

Three-point field goals: Parsons 35-10 (Forbes 2-3, Hizey 2-5, S.Kelly 1-2), Fort Scott 6-15 (Cook 5-12, Stanley 1-2, B.Brown 0-1).

Total fouls: Parsons 16, Fort Scott 21. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Parsons 25 (K.Kelly 7), Fort Scott 35 (M.Cook 10). Assists: Parsons 5 (Lawson 2, S.Kelly 2), Fort Scott 9 (four with 2 each). Turnovers: Parsons 14, Fort Scott 15. Steals: Parsons 12 (Lawson 5), Fort Scott 8 (Hasenplaugh 3). Blocked shots: Parsons none, Fort Scott 3 (M.Cook 2).