Highland holds off Greyhound men in Region VI semifinals

HIGHLAND — Fort Scott Community College’s men were able to climb out of an early deficit to make a game of it for a while in the first half here Saturday afternoon. But when Highland built up a big lead again, the Greyhounds were unable to answer a second time and fell to the Scotties, 78-71, in the semifinals of the Region VI-Division II Tournament.

The second-seeded Scotties (24-7) will face fourth-seeded Labette, a 79-58 upset winner on the road at top-seed Johnson County Saturday, for the championship at 3 p.m. Saturday in Park City.

Fort Scott’s season ended with a record of 20-12, the best record the Greyhounds have had under head coach Michael Cook and their highest win total since 1990-91 when they went 20-10.

Highland jumped out to a 10-2 lead after 5 1/2 minutes of play but the Greyhounds went on a 17-4 run to go up 19-14 with 9:48 remaining in the first half.

Tyler Zinn’s 3-pointer with 8:38 to go made it 22-16 but the Scotties went on a 24-8 run to end the half with a layup by Ryan Haskins making it 40-30 at the break.

Highland was able to keep Fort Scott down by double digits most of the second half even though the Scotties scored their last field goal with 5:37 left in the game. Alonzo Williams’ shot made it 70-53.

The Scotties only scored four free throws the rest of the way. The Greyhounds took advantage as much as they could and got within 72-66 with 39 seconds to go.

Zinn led the Greyhounds with 25 points with John Montgomery added 14 and Andre Nelson adding 12. Montgomery also had 13 rebounds.

Holden Redparth led Highland with 20 points. Taiveyhon Mason added 14 with Haskins finishing with 13, Williams with 11 and Jaylin Rutherford 12.

Highland shot 51 percent from the field, making 25 of 49 field-goal attempts and also connected on 20 of 25 free-throw tries. Fort Scott shot 41 percent on 25 of 61 and made 16 of 24 free throws.

Highland won all three games in the season series.

(3) FORT SCOTT: Zinn 8-11 6-7 25, Montgomery 6-15 2-3 14, Davis 1-5 2-2 5, Brocato 1-6 0-0 3, Nelson 5-12 2-2 12, Jones 0-3 0-0 0, Sanders 2-7 4-6 8, Flowers 2-2 0-4 4. TOTALS: 25-61 16-24 71.

(2) HIGHLAND: Mason 5-9 3-3 14, Redparth 5-9 6-7 20, Perry 1-4 0-0 2, Haskins 4-9 2-2 13, Williams 5-8 1-4 11, Rutherford 2-4 6-6 10, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Owen 0-0 0-0 0, Doakes 1-2 1-1 2, Caldwell 1-2 2-2 4, Harvey 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 25-49 20-25 78.

Highland.......................... 40 38 — 77

Three-point field goals: Fort Scott 5-20 (Zinn 3-5, Davis 1-4, Brocato 1-4, Montgomery 0-1, Sanders 0-1, Jones 0-2, Nelson 0-3), Highland 8-19 (Redparth 4-6, Haskins 3-7, Mason 1-4, Rutherford 0-1, Doakes 0-1).

Total fouls: Fort Scott 19, Highland 19. Fouled out: Nelson.

Rebounds: Fort Scott 31 (Montgomery 13), Highland 32 (Redparth 7). Assists: Fort Scott 9 (Montgomery 3), Highland 16 (Mason 5). Turnovers: Fort Scott 20, Highland 13. Steals: Fort Scott 9 (Nelson 3), Highland 10 (Mason 3). Blocked shots: Fort Scott 1 (Flowers), Highland none.