Buzzer-beater gives Tigers victory over Vikes

Fort Scott's Chase Brown (11) goes over Parsons' Dakolby Johnson for a layup early in the first half of play at the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night. Brown scored 9 points for the Tigers in their 46-44 Southeast Kansas League victory over the Vikings. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Senior forward Mason Knopp couldn't play for Fort Scott's boys Tuesday night as he has been hampered by a lingering injury from football season.

Normally, Parsons might have considered that a good sign. But Knopp's fill-in, Benjamin Labbe, scored the game-winning layup at the buzzer to give the Vikings their first loss of the season, 46-44, in Southeast Kansas League action.

"I think our M.O. right now is that every game is going to come down to the last shot," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "It's a great win. This league this year ... (Parsons) proved they are a good team. They are going to win a lot of games and surprise a lot of people."

Fort Scott's four games have been decided by an average margin of 1.3 points this season. Only one game has been decided by more than two, and that game -- a loss to the largest school in Oklahoma, Broken Arrow, on Dec. 6 at Willard, Mo. --finished 45-40.

The Tigers (1-0 SEK, 2-2 overall) held a 9-point lead with three minutes remaining in the contest after holding the Vikes (0-1, 3-1) scorless for eight minutes. But Parsons shook off their offensive doldrums and scored five points in 19 seconds --a 3-pointer by Elyjah Lyons and a layup from Isian Taylor --to get within 42-40 with 1:11 to go.

Fort Scott came right back, beating the press as Labbe found Alex Fink for a quick layup. Then Joe Harris came back the other way for Parsons to cut the deficit to 44-42 with 45 seconds to go.

Dakolby Johnson tied the score with 13 seconds to go after he stuck back a teammate's miss.

The Tigers brought the ball up court quickly with Jacob Bradbury finding Chase Brown along the right side. Brown got the ball to Fink in the front court for a quick pass underneath to Labbe for the game winner just before the horn sounded.

DeLaTorre thought about calling time out as the ball was coming up.

"I almost called time out," DeLaTorre said. "But when he got rid of it, we had numbers up court and I trusted that we were going to make the right move -- get to the basket, maybe get fouled. So we let them play it out.

"Alex made a great pass, found Ben and he finished. And that's a tough spot."

With Knopp unable to start and Labbe in his place, it took some time for the Tigers to find their stride. They missed eight of their first 10 shots from the field bue Parsons didn't take full advantage until late in the first period.

Jacob Almond scored on a pass from Dequan Wells, then Taylor drove in for a layup and Donte Gress took a steal in for a layup to put Parsons up 14-7 with 1:31 to go.

Brown hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with six seconds left in the first to get the Tigers within three. DeLaTorre stuck back a miss in transition to start the second quarter and Brown gave Fort Scott its first lead, 15-14, on a pair of free throws.

Johnson and Taylor scored back-to-back for Parsons to give the Vikes a 3-point lead. Gress scored from a Johnson pass to make it 20-16 with 3:06 to go.

Devonte Robinson scored for Fort Scott with 2:39 to go to bring the Tigers within two. But nobody scored the rest of the half, with Parsons squandering an opportunity to extend the lead after an illegal screen call with five seconds to go. The Vikings led 20-18 at the break.

The majority of the third quarter was trading score for score, literally. The first 7:57 of play was Fort Scott score, Parsons score, Fort Scott, Parsons, and so on.

Labbe hit a jumper with 56 seconds to go to tie the score at 32-32. Then Wyatt Reehl broke the pattern when he connected on a 3-point shot from the top of the key with three seconds to go to put Fort Scott ahead 35-32.

The Tigers extended the lead early in the fourth. Kaleb DeLaTorre made two free throws. Then Fink scored on a drive and Brown followed with a pair of free throws to make it 41-32 with 3:24 left, the largest margin of the night for either side.

DeLaTorre finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds to lead Fort Scott, which made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts in the second half after going 6 of 18 in the first. Taylor led Parsons with 15 points.

The field-goal percentage was relatively high with Fort Scott shooting 48 percent, making 16 of 33 shots, while Parsons shot 49 percent on 17 of 35. That meant there weren't a lot of rebounds with the Vikings holding a 23-18 advantage. Lyons led Parsons with five boards.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Fort Scott prevailed 54-46 over Parsons with Robinson leading the way with 14 points.

Fort Scott goes to Chanute for an SEK contest Friday night before going on the holiday break.

PARSONS:Harris 2-4 0-0 5, Drisdell 0-4 0-0 0, Taylor 6-9 3-4 15, Johnson 3-8 2-4 8, Lyons 1-4 2-2 5, Wells 2-3 0-0 5, D.Gress 2-2 0-0 4, Almond 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS: 17-35 7-10 44.

FORT SCOTT: DeLaTorre 4-6 2-3 11, Smith 1-1 1-2 4, Brown 2-6 4-4 9, Hudiburg 0-1 0-0 0, Bradbury 1-4 1-2 4, Fink 4-8 0-0 8, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Reehl 1-3 0-0 3, Labbe 2-3 1-2 5, Robinson 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 16-33 9-13 46.

Fort Scott...... 11 7 17 11 -- 46

Three-point field goals: Parsons 3-11 (Lyons 1-1, Wells 1-1, Harris 1-3, Johnson 0-1, Almond 0-1, Drisdell 0-4), Fort Scott 5-9 (Smith 1-1, Brown 1-1, DeLaTorre 1-2, Bradbury 1-2, Reehl 1-2, Fink 0-1).

Total fouls: Parsons 17, Fort Scott 12. Fouled out: Wells.

Rebounds: Parsons 23 (Lyons 7), Fort Scott 18 (DeLaTorre 8). Assists: Parsons 6 (Lyons 2, Wells 2), Fort Scott 7 (Fink 3). Turnovers: Parsons 14, Fort Scott 11. Steals: Parsons 4 (Taylor 2), Fort Scott 6 (Brown 2, Fink 2). Blocked shots: Parsons 3 (Lyons 2), Fort Scott none.