Eagles are grounded in SCHS blowout

SCHS junior Tyler Hess pulls down a rebound during Friday's action at Hugoton.

By Rod Haxton, editor

Make no mistake about it. Scott City’s win over Hugoton was an offensive clinic.

The Beavers found any way and every way to light up the scoreboard in a lopsided 83-43 win that could have been much worse.

Scott City (15-1, 8-0) was on top 47-13 after just 13-1/2 minutes of play and were content with trading baskets with the Eagles for the rest of the game.

With four players scoring in double figures, it was the defense that set the stage for Friday’s rout in Great Western Activities Conference action.

SCHS forced 23 turnovers and had 23 steals while limiting the Eagles to just 17-of-47 shooting from the field.

“Hugoton has had trouble all year with pressure. We had success against them when they played here, plus they had a starting guard out of the lineup,” says head coach Glenn O’Neil. “This wasn’t a very good formula for success for them on this particular night.”

Quite honestly, there may not have been any formula that would have worked for the Eagles on this night.

Hugoton was continually frustrated by the full-court pressure that forced a number of turnovers and allowed the Beavers to get into their transition game.

Junior pivot Joey Meyer was an outstanding 7-of-8 from the field on his way to a career high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds. Meyer and junior center Drew Kite accounted for the team’s first nine points before freshman guard Trey O’Neil hit the first of his two treys in the opening period.

“Joey got things started in the first couple of minutes and then Drew jumped in,” says the head coach. “Brett (O’Neil) and Trey hit a couple of baskets and things just steamrolled in the first half.

“We had pretty good balance with two posts and two guards in double figures and they were shooting a pretty decent percentage,” says O’Neil.

Brett O’Neil poured in 19 points and dished out seven assists while Kite, who was 7-of-10 from the field, added 17 points.

Leading 28-9 after the opening period, the SCHS juggernaut continued in the second half with a three-point play from Kite and a three-point basket by B. O’Neil. Meyer followed with a field goal to make it a 36-10 lead.

SCHS then added a 10-0 scoring burst in which four different players contributed. B. O’Neil’s spin move in the lane for a basket even earned an appreciative response from the Hugoton fans. When Meyer collected a pair of free throws at the 2:34 mark it extended the Scott City lead to 47-13 and many of the fans in attendance for Hugoton’s Homecoming were heading for the exits.

Even Scott City’s junior varsity made a statement in the final four minutes when they closed the game with a 14-3 scoring spree despite the running clock. That late surge included three baseline jumpers from senior forward Jeremy Clinton and a three-pointer by junior guard Anthony Wilson.

“Coming off the bench, I thought Jeremy and Anthony graded out well, along with Trey. Those three boys had their best overall grades for the year,” says O’Neil.

“Jeremy shot well on the baseline, but he’s been playing better when he gets into the game anyway,” adds the head coach. “It’s nice to see Jeremy having success and knocking some shots down. And he still understands what his role is and he does it very well.”