Guard Play Dominates in Win Over Redskins

SCHS junior Brett O'Neil hits a jump shot over Liberal defenders DeVondre Livingston (2) and Britton Abbott (30) during Friday's 66-51 non-league win.

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By Rod Haxton, editor

Having scored in double figures only once in his previous five games, Scott City guard Brett O’Neil was just hoping to regain his shooting touch during Friday’s non-league game against Liberal.

What he got instead was a career night.

The Scott Community High School junior poured in 25 points and the Beavers (7-1, 5-0) rolled to an easy 66-51 road win.

O’Neil, who was averaging an uncharacteristic 5.6 points in the five games leading up to Friday night, was 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point line.

Head coach Glenn O’Neil knew it was only a matter of time before the SCHS guards would again have a big offensive night. Senior guard Braeden Robinson drained three treys in the opening period on his way to an 11-point performance and junior guard Tyler Hess added another three-pointer early in the second period that put the Beavers on top 21-11.

“All these boys have been working on their shots and their footwork,” says Coach O’Neil. “We’ve spent a lot of time on technique and reps.”

At the same time, he says it helps that this team isn’t one-dimensional. While the guards have been struggling somewhat over the past few games the post play has been very solid. On Friday, it was the guards who carried most of the offensive load with 49 points. The Beaver guards accounted for 26 of the team’s first 30 points.

They were also an outstanding 8-of-18 from beyond the three-point line for the night.

“Offensively, we struggled with our inside game,” says O’Neil. “Our post players were getting in too deep under the basket. They may have given (Liberal) too much credit with their shot-blocking ability. Liberal didn’t have a single blocked shot on the night. At best they may have had a tip. Which means we didn’t take it to them strong enough.

“Hitting the early shots like we did should have given us the ability to open things more inside. We just had a tough time finishing off our shots,” O’Neil says. “That’s one of the nice things about this team, if we’re struggling in one area we can make up for it elsewhere.”

On this night it was the guards who were dismantling the Redskins defense. After taking a 21-11 lead early in the second period, the Beavers soon followed with a 9-0 scoring run that included consecutive baskets by B. O’Neil - one of those a trey - and a nice defensive play by Robinson in which he picked off a pass near the SCHS free throw line and added an easy layin for a 30-13 advantage.

The Beavers led by 16 points in the closing moments of the half when the Redskins drilled the first of their last second buzzer-beaters.

Attribute it to Friday the 13th, but Liberal launched another long-range bomb to finish off the third period and when they had the ball for another last second shot to close the game there seemed little doubt what the result would be.

“Even before (Liberal) took the shot I told Scott (Holt) you know it’s going in,” said O’Neil. “Take away those three last second shots and it’s a different looking scoreboard. Even if they hit one of those, you still come away with a 20-plus point win.”

Hold off Late Run

Even with the last-second heroics, the Redskins could manage just one offensive run during the game during which they cut an 18 point lead in half, trailing 40-31 with 5:14 left in the third period.

A defensive miscommunication and some rushed offensive possessions for SCHS allowed the Redskins to climb back into the game.

“I never felt we were in danger of seeing the lead shrink to three or five points, but there was a period of time when we weren’t in control on offense the way I’d like to see,” O’Neil says.

The Beavers answered with a 12-0 scoring blitz of their own that started with a field goal and two free throws by B. O’Neil. Drew Kite hit a short jumper and O’Neil added a three-pointer.

Kite, who finished the night with eight points and nine rebounds, drew a charge at one end of the floor and followed with a free throw that put the Beavers back on top, 52-31.

Joey Meyer, who quietly put together a nine point, 10 rebound effort, hit a basket to give Scott City its biggest lead of the night at 54-32.

Even though the Beavers limited Liberal to just 39 percent shooting from two-point range (14-of-36) and forced 21 turnovers, the head coach felt his team didn’t play smart defense.

“Most of (Liberal’s) points came off penetration where we would try to take the ball away from the point guard instead of staying in front of him and forcing him to do something with the pass,” says O’Neil. “Instead, he was able to penetrate and create some offense.”

SCHS finished with 14 steals, led by T. O’Neil with four while Robinson and B. O’Neil had three each.