Greyhound men stumble in region play

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Despite all five starters scoring in double figures, Fort Scott Community College's men lost to Kansas City Kansas, 84-77, here Saturday in a Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play.

The Greyhounds also slipped down to the No. 6 position among the seven teams in Region VI Division II, although only 3 1/2 games separate the top team from the bottom team.

Will Harrington and Tyler Owens both scored 17 points for Fort Scott (3-6 East, 3-4 region, 10-15 overall). Dalton Rose and Marcus Russell each added 13 points and Xavier Hunter scored 10 points. However, the 'Hounds only received 7 points from the four men who came off the bench and 6 of those were scored by one player.

Kansas City (5-4, 4-4, 16-9), which led 37-28 at the half, salvaged a split in the season series behind the 21-point effort of C.J. Vallejo, who connected on 5 of 10 3-point shots. Roberto Hernandez added 14 off the bench while Anthony Ridley scored 11.

Both teams made half their shots from the floor -- Fort Scott 28 of 56, KCK 30- of 60. The difference was in 3-point shooting where the Blue Devils went 11 of 22 while Fort Scott made only 5 of 18 3-point shots.

KCK outrebounded Fort Scott, 32-31. Russell hauled down 10 boards for the 'Hounds, giving him a double-double.

While Fort Scott lost to KCK, the 'Hounds chances of getting home-court advantage in the first round of the Region VI Division II post-season tournament were not hurt as much as they could have been. Hesston, which had the best record in region games going into the weekend, lost at Highland, 59-55. Brown Mackie defeated Johnson County, 79-76, to move into a tie for the top spot with the Scotties, both now 5-2 in the region. Johnson County fell to 4-3 to drop into a three-way tie for third with Kansas City and Highland. Labette lost to Coffeyville in a game that did not affect its region record and remains the No. 7 team with a 2-5 region record.

Wednesday night, Fort Scott will host Johnson County with an opportunity to salvage a season split in the season series. The Cavaliers (12-13 overall) defeated the Greyhounds by 3 points at Overland Park on December 6. In other games, Hesston will be at Kansas City and Highland will play at Labette. Brown Mackie will have the night off.

FORT SCOTT: Harrington 5-11 7-10 17, Russell 6-11 1-3 13, Hunter 4-7 2-2 10, Rose 4-9 3-4 13, Owens 6-12 2-3 17, Butler 3-5 0-0 6, Knight 0-0 1-2 1, Brull 0-1 0-0 0, Criddle 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-56 16-24 77.

KANSAS CITY KANSAS: Talley 3-10 0-0 9, Ridley 5-8 1-3 11, Lendway 4-5 1-2 9, Vallejo 7-15 2-2 21, Aina 2-4 0-2 4, Hamilton 1-1 0-0 2, Hall 3-5 4-5 10, Hernandez 3-8 5-8 14, Lewis 2-4 0-0 4. TOTALS: 30-60 13-22 84.

Halftime: Kansas City 37-28.

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 5-18 (Owens 3-9, Rose 2-6, Harrington 0-1, Hunter 0-1, Brull 0-1), Kansas City 11-22 (Vallejo 5-10, Talley 3-3, Hernandez 3-7, Ridley 0-1, Aina 0-1).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 18, Kansas City 21. Fouled out: None.

Rebounds: Fort Scott 31 (Russell 10), Kansas City 32 (Vallejo 7). Assists: Fort Scott 10 (Hunter 4), Kansas City 21 (Ridley 9). Turnovers: Fort Scott 17, Kansas City 16. Steals: Fort Scott 7 (Butler 2, Knight 2), Kansas City 12 (Ridley 6). Blocked shots: Fort Scott 8 (Russell 3, Rose 3), Kansas City none.