| Shots fail to fall for Paola girls in loss at Fort Scott |
|
| Sports | |||
| Written by Gene Morris | |||
| Friday, 05 March 2010 09:00 | |||
|
FORT SCOTT — As much as they wanted to and as hard as they tried, the Paola High School Panther girls’ basketball team could not pull out a win against the Tigers on their home court in Fort Scott in the first round of the Class 4A substate playoffs.  The Panthers (6-15), who trailed by as many as 15 points, never made a serious run at the Tigers (15-6) in a 10-point, 46-36, loss Monday evening. At the end of the day, Paola was not without its chances. The loss boiled down to two things — too many turnovers and not enough baskets — snapshots of the entire season. Paola took 10 more shots than Fort Scott on Monday (36-26), but made one less basket (13-14) and did not take care of the basketball at key moments in the game. “We made a series of mistakes when we were getting back in it, and that let them pull away,” Paola coach Stuart Ross said. “They got to the free-throw line and knocked them down.” “We played hard,” Ross said. “I wasn’t disappointed with how they played. We went down fighting, and that’s all I care about. We didn’t look like a seventh-seed out there.” An inside basket by Annie Kessler and a layup by Mackenzie Hallstrom had the Panthers within one point of the Tigers. Fort Scott quickly answered with a 3-pointer, increasing the deficit to four points (8-4). Kylee Mader drove the lane for a layup to make it a two-point game with 3:41 left to play in the first quarter. Fort Scott outscored Paola 5-3 to end the frame with a 13-9 advantage. Paola could not hit the basket in the second quarter and, despite some great defense, fell further behind on a 9-2 run by Fort Scott. Guard Courtney Johnson hit a basket for the Panthers’ only points of the frame. Fort Scott led 22-11 at the half and made it a 15-point deficit with a pair of unanswered baskets to open the third quarter, pushing its advantage to 26-11. Paola would not go away. Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game, 26-16, with 4:40 left in the third. Kessler sank a pair of free throws to close to within eight points, 26-18. The Panthers could have cut it to six points on a steal, but turned the ball over. The Tigers answered with free throws at the other end. Fort Scott also lost Jolee Sharp with an injury. The senior forward accounted for 18 of the team’s first 26 points. She would not return. Megan McDermed stepped up in Sharp’s absence, sinking two field goals and six free throws to score 10 points in the final two quarters. Paola continued to struggle from the floor. After closing to 26-18, the Panthers scored just three more points the rest of the frame. Paola made five field goals in the fourth quarter and outscored Fort Scott 15-14, but fell in the 10-point loss. The Tigers protected its lead at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, sinking 12 of 16. Kessler led Paola with 15 points. Johnson had nine points. Other players scoring were Melanie Golubski, Mader and Hallstrom. Allison Wood, a senior, was injured in the Panthers’ regular season finale against Gardner-Edgerton on Friday and did not play. Other seniors playing in their last game for the Panthers were Ann Pomatto, Rachel Schmidt and Mader.
|