Golden Tornado drops Tigers in home finale

Fort Scott's Cassidy Westhoff and Coffeyville's Bailey Naden (11) go after a loose ball during the first quarter of play at the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night. Despite the Tigers' effort, Coffeyville took a 63-55 victory. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Fort Scott High's girls led by a point with four minutes left in the third quarter of a Southeast Kansas League game with Coffeyville at the FSHS gymnasium Tuesday night. But the visiting Golden Tornado went on a 12-0 run shortly after and that was enough to give them control on their way to a 63-55 win to put a damper on Fort Scott's Senior Night.

Andre'a Newton started the run by converting a 3-point play and ended it by converting a steal into a breakaway basket to make it 44-33 with 1:17 left in the period.

Although Ashley Cook hit back-to-back 3-point shots to bring the Tigers within five at the end of the quarter, they'd never get closer than four points the rest of the night.

This was the final home game for seniors Cook, Cassidy Westhoff and Shytanna Reed. FSHS head coach Pechone Stepps also gave senior Abby Denton the chance to be appreciated by the home crowd by having her introduced as a starter even though she was not able to play this season due to a knee injury.

Coffeyville (2-9, 6-12) held a 13-8 lead after one period as Newton's 25-foot prayer was answered as the horn sounded. But Fort Scott (4-7, 7-12) was able to gain the lead in the second following a 7-0 run capped by Westhoff's transition basket.

Coffeyville reclaimed the lead with a 7-0 run capped by an Ashley Rutherford 3-point shot with 10 seconds to go. Kharsyn Dwyer made 2 of 3 free throws with no time on the clock to cut the deficit to 27-25.

A. Cook finished with 20 points for Fort Scott. Madison Cook had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Emily Hale also had 11 boards.

Rutherford led Coffeyville with 24 points and Newton added 21 before leaving the game with just over two minutes to go due to a knee injury.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Fort Scott's junior varsity won 64-17 as Gabrielle Allen scored 12 points and Kharsyn Dwyer added 10.

Fort Scott concludes the regular season Friday night at Independence. After that, the varsity will play in the Louisburg Class 4A-Division I Sub-State Tournament. Although the tournament won't be officially seeded until Saturday, the Tigers will be the No. 3 seed and face Spring Hill (9-10) in the first round on March 3. Paola (17-2), the No. 1 seed, will take on Louisbug (3-15) in the other first-round game. The final will be held March 5.

COFFEYVILLE: Newton 9-19 2-5 21, Rutherford 8-14 5-7 24, Homan 2-4 0-0 4, Wilson 2-4 0-0 4, Naden 1-3 1-3 3, Herkelman 1-7 1-2 3, S. Rooks 2-3 0-0 4, Barnett 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25-54 9-17 63.

FORT SCOTT: Lawrence 0-0 0-0 0, DeLaTorre 2-7 11Brown 2-9 2-4 6, Westhoff 2-4 0-0 4, J.Denton 0-2 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Hale 4-10 1-2 9, A.Cook 8-23 0-0 20, Dwyer 0-1 2-3 3, H.Denton 0-1 0-0 0, M.Cook 4-12 6-8 14, Reed 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-62 11-17 55.

Fort Scott................... 8 17 14 16 -- 55

Three-point field goals: Coffeyville 4-11 (Rutherford 3-4, Newton 1-1, Wilson 0-1, Naden 0-1, Herkelman 0-4), Fort Scott 4-16 (A.Cook 4-12, J.Denton 0-1, Dwyer 0-1, Brown 0-2).

Total fouls: Coffeyville 16, Fort Scott 14. Fouled out: none.

Rebounds: Coffeyville 42 (Herkelman 16), Fort Scott 38 (Hale 11, M.Cook 11). Assists: Coffeyville 10 (Naden 3), Fort Scott 8 (M.Cook 3). Turnovers: Coffeyville 12, Fort Scott 11. Steals: Coffeyville 5 (Newton 2), Fort Scott 6 (M.Cook 2). Blocked shots: Coffeyville 5 (Herkelman 3), Fort Scott none.