No. 6 Highland pulls away in second half

Highland, ranked No. 6 in NJCAA Division II, pulled away in the fourth quarter Saturday to take a 66-56 victory in what was the Jayhawk Conference-Division II opener for Fort Scott Community College's women.

The Greyhounds (0-1 division, 11-10 overall) managed to get back to a tie at halftime, 27-27, after being down by 4 points at the end of the first quarter. But the Scotties (3-0, 20-1) outscored the 'Hounds 23-17 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Highland has won its last 17 games. It's only loss this season came on the road by one point, 58-57, at Cowley on Nov. 7. Fort Scott saw a three-game winning streak broken.

Kamiron Luptak led Fort Scott, which dressed only seven players, with 19 points. Kayleigh Haggard added 16 and Alexis Byrnes chipped in with 12.

Shaiann Tramble paced Highland with 20 points followed by Jameka Dowell with 15 and Szonia Vukov with 14.

This game began a run of three consecutive games versus ranked opponents for the Greyhounds. Wednesday evening, No. 1 Johnson County will visit Arnold Arena for a 5:30 tipoff. Saturday, the Greyhounds play at No. 9 Kansas City Kansas at 2 p.m.

HIGHLAND: Vukov 6-15 1-2 14, Forell 2-4 0-0 5, Dowell 4-7 6-8 15, Tramble 4-9 10-10 20, Salas 1-5 1-2 3, Witt 1-1 1-2 3, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Simmons 0-3 0-0 0, Woody 0-0 0-0 0, Blackburn 3-7 0-0 6, Claiborne 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-51 19-24 66.

FORT SCOTT: Byrnes 3-11 5-8 12, Luptak 5-11 9-9 19, Holtgrave 0-4 4-6 4, Haggard 6-14 1-2 16, Danzer 0-2 0-0 0, Iseman 1-1 3-4 5, Bohanon 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15-44 22-29 56.

Fort Scott.......... 12 15 12 17 -- 56

Three-point field goals: Highland 5-16 (Tramble 2-5, Dowell 1-2, Vukov 1-3, Forell 1-3, Simmons 0-3), Fort Scott 4-15 (Haggard 3-6 Byrnes 1-4, Holtgrave 0-2, Luptak 0-3).

Total fouls: Highland 23, Fort Scott 23. Fouled out: Tramble, Luptak.

Rebounds: Highland 36 (Vukov 7), Fort Scott 25 (Byrnes 6). Assists: Highland 12 (Tramble 4), Fort Scott 5 (Danzer 3). Turnovers: Highland 29, Fort Scott 26. Steals: Highland 8 (Vukov 2, Tramble 2), Fort Scott 10 (Holtgrave 3, Danzer 3). Blocked shots: Highland 2 (Vukov, Salas), Fort Scott none.