FSHS boys dominate Iola, stay atop SEK

Sunday, February 18, 2007

By Scott Nuzum

Herald-Tribune

IOLA, Kan. -- It's no longer easy for Zach Quick to score points. But if that's the way it's going to be, it just opens things up for someone else to get some points.

Kevin Gray scored 12 points and Zach Smith and Alex Barner each scored 10 as Fort Scott High's boys defeated Iola, 55-31, Friday night to stay atop the Southeast Kansas League ladder.

The Tigers (7-0 SEK, 15-4 overall) draw their league bye Tuesday before going to Coffeyville to wrap up the regular season Thursday night. The Golden Tornado beat Parsons in league play Friday night and are also undefeated (6-0, 10-8) in league play.

Coffeyville will travel to Iola Tuesday night. Then on Thursday, the least that will be on the line is a share of the league championship.

"I told the kids that they have an opportunity to play a championship-caliber game in the regular season," Fort Scott head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said. "That's what it comes down to. There's a good chance that we're both going to be 7-0 going into that game. What more could you ask for?"

There can't be more than a two-way tie as the four teams tied for third -- Iola, Parsons, Labette County and Chanute -- are all 3-3 in league play.

It was clear early on that Iola wanted to shut down Quick, who scored 23 points on 10-of-14 field-goal shooting in the Tigers' 65-46 victory in Fort Scott on Jan. 3. Friday night, Quick was able to take just eight shots and finished with nine points.

But Quick dished seven assists and grabbed eight rebounds.

"He does so many different things," DeLaTorre said. "Tonight, he missed some shots he would normally make. He was a little frustrated with that aspect of his game but he had assists, blocked shots, rebounds."

It's been known for a while that Gray and Smith can hurt a team offensively. But Barner, a sophomore who's seen more playing time as Jeff Johnson's backup while starter Tony Karleskint nurses a concussion, had his best overall night on varsity. He made four of eight shots from the floor, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, picked up three steals and blocked a couple of shots.

"Alex did a great job," DeLaTorre said. "He's a key factor for us. If he can play like that and do the type of things he did tonight, then we become even more dangerous. Tony Karleskint comes back next week. And it'll add another weapon. If he can continue to play like that and have that type of confidence, he's definitely going to make us better."

The Tigers never trailed, taking the lead right off the bat when Chris Banks nailed a three-point shot to open the contest. Barner came off the bench and scored Fort Scott's last two baskets of the quarter before John Shapel answered for Iola (3-3, 10-8) to make it a 15-6 game.

A 9-0 run to end the half made it a 32-13 lead at the break. In the first half, Fort Scott outrebounded Iola 23-6.

There didn't seem to be much wrong the Tigers could do on this night. An 11-0 run to end the third made it a 47-21 margin going into the final stanza. Austin Ryman hit a three to open the fourth for the Mustangs but Fort Scott scored the next eight, making it 55-24 and putting the league's 30-point running clock rule into effect.

"I thought we put together a little more of a complete game tonight," DeLaTorre noted. "I'm pretty happy and it's always nice to come on the road and get a win.

"We got a little bit from everybody. When you don't have one guy going crazy, it's good to get everybody contributing and that's what we had tonight."

For the game, Fort Scott shot 42 percent from the field as it made 21 of 50 field-goal attempts. Iola connected just 11 times in 33 attempts for 33 percent. No one made it to double-figures scoring for the Mustangs. Ryman and Josh Honeycutt each scored seven points.

The final rebounding margin was 39-13 in Fort Scott's favor. Banks had an additional seven boards for the Tigers.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Fort Scott prevailed over Iola, 50-48, as Brian Gorman scored 11 points. Barner, Matt Wheeler and Jake Clements each scored eight.

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