by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Sportswriter Grantland Rice once wrote: “When the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, he writes, not that you won or lost – but how you played the game.”
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s short-handed Blue Devils didn’t upset No. 3 seeded Fort Scott Wednesday night but it wasn’t because of a lack of determination and effort in a 69-63 loss to the Greyhounds in first-round Region VI Division II playoff action.
Juvan Davenport’s driving layup with 40.5 seconds left cut Fort Scott’s lead to 63-61 but the Blue Devils couldn’t get the stop they needed to overtake the Greyhounds. Dontrell Sanders maneuvered inside for a contested layup with 16 seconds left and added a free throw that sealed the win for Fort Scott.
The loss ended the season at 8-23 for the Blue Devils, who played their last eight games with just six players. It was also the second last-minute loss in a row for the Blue Devils, who lost on a shot at the horn at Labette on Saturday. Fort Scott, meanwhile, advances to the Region VI semifinals at Highland Saturday afternoon.
“I am very proud of our guys,” KCKCC coach Kelley Newton said. “We fought to the bitter end. None of these guys quit. I pray that these guys grow and learn from our experience this season and use it as motivation for future situations.”
Freshman Malcolm Tate led the Blue Devils with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. Davenport added 16 points, missing only two of seven shots from the field and making 5-of-6 free throws; Tyson Beringer was from 4-of-5 from the field and the free throw line in scoring 12 points, grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots; and Joshia Laws led all rebounders with nine and scored eight points.
KCKCC took control early, opening a 32-25 halftime lead and expanding it to 42-33 with 15 minutes left in the second half only to have Fort Scott surge from behind with a 17-4 uprising. Sanders capped a 7-0 run to put the Greyhounds in front 45-44 with 9:22 left.
Tate temporarily regained the lead for KCKCC with a field goal only to have Jayden Davis put the Greyhounds ahead for good with his only basket of the night, a 3-pointer from the left side with 8:54 remaining.
The Blue Devils took just 45 shots and made 24 for a crisp 53.3 percent and added 12-of-15 free throws while Fort Scott was just 42.9 percent from the field (24-of-56). The Greyhounds had a 32-29 edge in rebounding and three less turnovers than KCKCC (19-16).
The win was the 20th for the Greyhounds (20-11), the first 20-win season at Fort Scott since the 1990-91 season and only the sixth in the history of the program.