in a zone

By Rod Haxton, editor

Beavers turn up pressure against Leoti

The Scott City boys were in a zone - literally and figuratively - on Tuesday night.

The SCHS zone defense created havoc on Wichita County High School in the second half

and junior guard Ron Baker was in a zone of his own with a career high 27 points as the Beavers pulled away for a 59-51 win over the No. 9 ranked team in Class 2A.

It could be said that the game was a tale of two halves, with Leoti (6-2) holding a slim 23-22 edge at halftime. WCHS guard Watson McKinney limited Baker to just six first half points and the Indians took advantage of a 12-2 scoring run early in the second period that enabled them to take a 23-22 lead at the half.

In the second half it was all SCHS (4-3) after Baker put the Beavers on top to stay, 35-32, following the second of his two treys at the 2:34 mark of the third period.

But the real dagger to Leoti’s heart came 2-1/2 minutes later when Baker came off a screen, squared up to the basket and drained a three-pointer just ahead of the buzzer that extended Scott City’s lead to 43-36. Leoti scored the first basket of the final period, but was unable to get closer than five points the rest of the night.

“We’ve been looking for that kind of night from Ron,” says head coach Glenn O’Neil. “You also have to give credit to the rest of the team. They were setting some nice screens and Ron was coming off them at different angles that gave him some good looks at the basket, especially in the second half.”

The difference in the two halves, according to WCHS head coach Matt Crist, was defensive intensity and fatigue.

“Watson spent so much energy guarding (Baker) in the first half that we had to find someone else to help in the second half and that created some mismatches,” says Crist. “Baker’s a great player and he was able to take advantage of that. You also have to credit their offense for setting very good screens.”

He also felt that Scott City’s extended zone defense, and defensive aggressiveness in the second half, was a huge factor.

“We haven’t seen a lot of zone and Scott City plays really good zone when they play hard,” Crist says. “When playing a zone you have to attack and we didn’t do a good job of that.”

O’Neil acknowledges the match-up zone isn’t a typical 2-3 zone, especially with the Beavers bringing added pressure on the ball. The result was 16 turnovers by the Indians.

Scott City jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but WCHS showed why they entered the game on a five game win streak. The Indians put together a 12-2 scoring run early in the second period, taking a 19-15 lead on a three-point play by sophomore guard Gabe Martinez.

Leoti was able to build their lead despite 6-8 junior Trae Bremer spending most of the second period on the bench with two fouls. Scott City’s 6-4 junior Jorden Funk also saw limited action during the night because of early foul problems.

“The first half was pretty chaotic,” says O’Neil. “Both teams were playing pretty physical on defense and neither seemed to find their rhythm offensively. The difference for Leoti in the first half were their offensive rebounds. Things might have been a lot more interesting at the end if they’d been able to hit their three-pointers in the game.”

And if SCHS wouldn’t have had a big 18-3 scoring advantage from the free throw line.

Senior guard Alex Swan was 7-of-8 at the line - all of those coming in the fourth quarter - to finish with nine points. Funk added seven points. Senior Austin Davis had a huge night under the boards with nine rebounds - six offensive - and added seven points.

Leoti was led in scoring by Steve Harkness with 14 points while Trae Bremer added eight points and six rebounds.