No. 4 Trojans keep Tiger girls at bay

Fort Scott's Madison Cook (35) goes in for a score during the second quarter of Friday night's game at the FSHS gymnasium as Shytanna Reed (42) looks on. Cook led the Tigers with 13 points and 10 rebounds in a 43-36 loss. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Girard's girls, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A-Division II by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, did just enough to keep Fort Scott High at bay Friday night, taking a 43-36 win at the FSHS gymnasium.

The Trojans did not exactly scorch the nets offensively, shooting just 33 percent from the floor on 15 of 46. But their defensive game plan worked to full effect as a box-and-one defense geared to keep Ashley Cook off the board did just that for most of the game.

It was hoped that Cook would become the second Tiger girl to score 1,000 career points in this game. But the Trojans (7-1) held her to 10 points on the night and her career total stands at 998. She is 117 points from passing Jolee Sharp as the all-time leading girls' scorer (1,115 points).

Cook scored only 2 points in the first three quarters as starter Jacey Murphy and reserve Kelli Culbertson stuck to her like glue.

Fort Scott (2-6) didn't make a field goal in the first quarter (0 for 6) as the Tigers' only points came on Madison Cook free throws. Girard led 10-4 after one.

Fort Scott missed its first 10 tries of the game before M.Cook scored a layup with 3:31 left in the first half. The teams traded scores the rest of the way with Girard maintaining a 20-12 lead at the half.

Girard extended its lead to 24-12 on a pair of early third-quarter layups by 6' 4" post Ashley Ray. The Tigers missed their first 8 field-goal attempts of the quarter. Their only points came on 2 M.Cook free throws and a stickback of a teammate's miss by Gabrielle Allen.

Girard boosted its lead to 14 points with 6 points in 17 seconds. Ray made a layup with 33 seconds to go and Sydnee Crain stole the inbound pass and scored. Then Crain did it again and the Trojans' lead was 30-16.

The Tigers' offense finally got going in the fourth quarter after making just 3 of 26 field-goal tries in the first three periods. Fort Scott scored 6 of the first 8 points to get within 32-22 with 5:10 to go.

The margin got down to 7 points, 36-27, with exactly two minutes to go as Kharsyn Dwyer hit a 3-pointer. But the Tigers were unable to score again for 79 seconds on an A.Cook 3-point shot. Cassidy Westhoff made two free throws a few seconds later to get the lead down to 39-32. But the Tigers were in the position where they had to foul to save time. Even though Girard wasn't proficient at the line on this night, going just 12 of 27, the Trojans made what they needed.

Calea Augustin led he Trojans with 12 points as she made 6 of 9 free throws. Crain finished with 10.

M.Cook had a double-double as she scored 13 points and hauled down 10 rebounds.

The Tigers won the battle of the boards, 40-30, but turned the ball over 29 times.

Fort Scott's next game will be in the first round of the Frontenac Tournament Thursday. The tourney will be seeded on Sunday.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Fort Scott routed Girard 37-2 in the JV contest as Brown scored 7 points. The Tigers led 28-1 at halftime.

NOTES -- Labette County suffered its first loss of the season as the Grizzlies fell 62-51 at Pittsburg. The Purple Dragons (5-1 SEK, 8-2 overall) now lead the Grizzlies (4-1, 7-1) by a half game with Chanute (4-1, 8-1) climbing into a tie for second after beating Independence, 56-41....

GIRARD: Cuthbertson 1-1 1-2 3, Hanson 3-6 3-8 9, Augustin 3-10 6-9 12, Murphy 0-2 1-4 1, Franklin 0-2 0-0 0, Crain 4-12 1-2 10, Ray 4-13 0-2 8. TOTALS: 15-46 12-27 43.

FORT SCOTT: Torres 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 1-6 0-0 2, Westhoff 0-1 2-2 2, J.Denton 0-1 0-0 0, Allen 1-1 0-1 2, Hale 0-2 0-0 0, A.Cook 3-13 2-4 10, Dwyer 2-4 0-0 5, H.Denton 0-0 0-0 0, M.Cook 2-10 9-12 13, Reed 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS: 10-40 13-19 36.

Fort Scott...... 4 8 4 20 -- 36

Three-point field goals: Girard 1-4 (Crain 1-2, Augustin 0-2), Fort Scott 3-8 (A.Cook 2-6, Dwyer 1-2).

Total fouls:Girard 17, Fort Scott 23. Fouled out: Westhoff.

Rebounds: Girard 30 (Ray 9), Fort Scott 40 (M.Cook 10). Assists: Girard 3 (Hanson, Augustin, Crain), Fort Scott 3 (A.Cook, Dwyer, M.Cook). Turnovers: Girard 14, Fort Scott 29. Steals: Girard 15 (Crain 6), Fort Scott 6 (Brown 2, Westhoff 2). Blocked shots: Girard 6 (Ray 6), Fort Scott 3 (Brown, A.Cook, M.Cook).