Menu
'Hound men down Brown Mackie in 2OT
Fort Scott Community College's men held off Brown Mackie in overtime at Arnold Arena Saturday afternoon and moved into a three-way tie for the No. 1 spot in Region VI-Division II with Kansas City and Hesston.
The Greyhounds' 84-80 double-overtime victory in the second re-match between last year's regional finalists didn't come easy. There's the old cliche that a game is won by the team that wants it more. But both teams came into the game wanting it equally badly due to the stakes involved. Fort Scott had that chance to move into the top spot. Brown Mackie wanted to get into position to at least have a first-round home game in the post-season tournament.
"They fought," Fort Scott head coach Michael Cook said of Brown Mackie's effort. "They didn't quit and we didn't quit. We were down 5 with a minute left (in regulation). We fought tonight and I told them, 'This is the first time I've seen you fight on a consistent basis every time we needed it.'"
Fort Scott (7-4 region, 15-14 overall) trailed 67-62 after Ahasureus McDonald scored in transition for Brown Mackie with 58 seconds remaining. But a few seconds later, Anthony Santiago knocked down a 3-point shot to bring the Greyhounds within 2 points.
The Lions (5-6, 16-13) tried to work the clock down but had some trouble and eventually Will Harrington stole the ball and took it in for the game-tying layup with 13 seconds remaining.
Brown Mackie brought the ball up and called time out in front of their bench with 9.5 seconds to go. The play after the time out went to Kevin McLemore but Devin Knight defended the shot and got the rebound at the buzzer.
Each team scored only once in the first overtime. Madit Anyieth stuck back a teammate's miss early in the period. Harrington made two free throws with 2:25 to go, tying it at 69-69.
The Lions tried to work the ball at the end of this period as they did at the end of regulation. This time, Goch Ajak launched a 3-pointer that missed and Knight got the rebound. Fort Scott called time out after the rebound with 4.8 seconds to go. Then Harrington got the ball to Tyler Owens, whose 3-point shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
The 'Hounds took control early in the second overtime. Harrington hit a jumper and then Owens took a steal in for a layup. Harrington and Marcus Russell ran a pick-and-roll for a basket by Russell, who was fouled and converted the 3-point play to make it 76-69 with 2:59 to go.
"We put that play in about three weeks ago," Cook said. "We hadn't ran it yet. We wanted to put them in that position to use it and see what happened. Will had just hit a jumper on the wing and that opened it up."
The lead grew to 79-71 with 1:27 to go. But the Lions weren't done yet. McDonald drove for a score with 1:13 to go. Then they fouled Harrington, who made one of the two free throws, missing the second, with 52 seconds left. Andre Hilbert was fouled on a dunk and converted the 3-point play with 37 seconds to go. Then Anyieth stole a pass in the backcourt and went in for a layup to bring Brown Mackie within 80-78 with 33 seconds left.
Forced to foul, the Lions had to send Harrington to the line since the 'Hounds made sure he got the ball. He made all four free throws he took in the next 24 seconds to make it 84-78.
Harrington finished the game with 32 points and 10 assists while Dalton Rose added 12 and Owens scored 12. Harrington's career high in points is Fort Scott's second 30-point game of the season, following a 36-point effort by Xavier Hunter in a win over Kansas City on January 28. It's the first time there have been two 30-point games in a season for the 'Hounds since 2009-10, when Ramell Taylor went over that mark twice.
McDonald scored 25 points to lead Brown Mackie with Macam Macam adding 11 and Kevin Loving scoring 10 even though he did not play in the first half.
Fort Scott currently holds a tie-breaker over Kansas City. The teams split the season series, so the tie is broken by going down the standings and comparing records versus the other teams. The Greyhounds are 1-0 versus Hesston this season with a game against the Larks to come Wednesday night on the road. KCK was 1-1 versus Heston this season.
If Fort Scott wins at Hesston and Kansas City loses at home to Johnson County, tie-breakers won't be necessary -- the 'Hounds will receive a first-round bye. If both Fort Scott and Kansas City win, the Greyhounds will have an advantage with a sweep of Hesston, who will be the third seed. KCK and Hesston split their season series.
Hesston will get the top seed if they beat the Greyhounds and KCK loses to Johnson. If Hesston and Kansas City both win, they'll both have season splits over Fort Scott, so the tie-breaker will have to go at least one step further. How that will work out will depend on the result of the Brown Mackie-Labette game.
The way the teams in the region have been beating each other up -- the top six teams are within two games of each other -- getting that first-round bye will be extremely valuable.
"It will be huge," Cook said. "It will give us some rest but at the same time, other people will keep beating each other up. It will be big if we can get that bye and then a home game like we did last year. It's hard to play us here. If we can get a big game at home, we could be back in Wichita again."
BROWN MACKIE: Wenyin 0-0 0-0 0, Anyieth 2-2 0-0 4, McDonald 11-21 2-3 25, Chenier 2-4 0-0 6, McLemore 1-4 0-0 2, Macam 4-4 3-3 11, Loving 5-5 0-0 10, Jones 4-8 0-0 8, Ajak 2-12 0-0 5, Carter 0-0 0-0 0, Hilbert 2-4 5-5 9. TOTALS: 33-64 10-11 80.
FORT SCOTT: Harrington 9-21 14-16 32, Hunter 0-1 0-0 0, Santiago 3-7 0-0 9, Knight 3-5 1-1 7, Brull 0-3 2-2 2, Rose 4-6 1-2 13, Owens 5-8 0-0 12, Russell 3-8 3-3 9. TOTALS: 27-59 21-24 84.
Halftime: Fort Scott, 31-30. End of regulation: Tied, 67-67. End of first overtime: Tied, 69-69.
Total fouls: Brown Mackie 22, Fort Scott 10. Fouled out: None.
Three-point field goals: Brown Mackie 4-23 (Chenier 2-2, McDonald 1-10, Ajak 1-10, McLemore 0-1), Fort Scott 9-17 (Rose 4-6, Santiago 3-6, Owens 2-4, Brull 0-2).
Rebounds: Brown Mackie 38 (Hilbert 7), Fort Scott 28 (Harrington 5, Russell 5). Assists: Brown Mackie 10 (McDonald 3, McLemore 3), Fort Scott 13 (Harrington 10). Turnovers: Brown Mackie 25, Fort Scott 20. Steals: Brown Mackie 14 (McLemore 4), Fort Scott 13 (Owens 4). Blocked shots: Brown Mackie 5 (Macam 3), Fort Scott 1 (Harrington).