On Wednesday evening the Fort Scott Greyhounds hosted Johnson County in a crucial Region XI match-up.  After getting off to a slow start in recent games, Fort Scott came out of the locker room as the aggressor.  The Hounds caught Johnson County off guard by trapping on defense early and often.  "We have been mixing in our trapping defense all season, but tonight I wanted to use it earlier to bring energy to our players," said Head Coach Michael Cook.

The Greyhounds scored the first two baskets of the game, and kept the Cavaliers off the scoreboard for the first three minutes.  As the first half progressed, the score went back and forth.  During the media break at the 7:51 mark, Fort Scott trailed 14-17.  Following the media timeout, Johnson County went on a run, scoring on their next two possessions to take the lead to seven points.  Their lead would grow to as many as 11 during the first half, but a three-point heave by Anthony Santiago at the buzzer cut the deficit to five at halftime, 31-36.

The second half belonged to the Greyhounds.  Within the first three minutes, the Hounds had taken the lead on a Tyler Owens layup, however the score would remain neck-and-neck until the six minute mark.  With five minutes remaining in the game, Fort Scott had opened a seven point lead, and with 2:30 on the clock an Evan Brull assist for a Josh Criddle layup put the Hounds up 71-61.  Fort Scott would go on to win 77-71 and move up to fourth place in Region XI standings.

"We did a lot of good things against Johnson County.  We played with intensity when we had to, the thing that impressed me was that our bench came in and gave great minutes to us and the stats will not show how great they played but without them tonight we wouldn't have been in a position to win tonight." said Coach Cook. "We took a nice step forward with this win, and now we need to prepare to take another step on Saturday at Highland."

Against Johnson, the Greyhounds were led on the stat sheet by Will Harrington, who recorded his second triple-double of the season.  Harrington had 13 points, 12 assists, and 12 rebounds.  Other Greyhounds who scored in double digits included Tyler Owens, 13, Marcus Russell, 12, and Xavier Hunter, 10.

Fort Scott plays Saturday, February 14 at Highland Community College, before returning for a home game against Labette on Wednesday, February 18.