Cougars get the road win in Payson
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By KENT COULTAS
Scott County Times
Three players combined to score 59 points, and West Central beat Payson 72-59 in boys’ basketball Feb. 8 at Payson.
Payson led 17-16 after one quarter and 23-22 in the second before the Cougars scored 15 straight points.
Chance Little scored to give West Central the lead at 24-23. Derek Price grabbed a rebound and scored, and Zack Evans made a three-point basket to give the Cougars a 29-23 lead.
Evans and Little both scored, and Ryker Ford scored off an assist from Evans. Mason Berry scored with 30 seconds remaining, and West Central led 37-23 at halftime.
Payson cut the margin to 37-27 early in the third quarter. West Central, however, scored eight straight points to increase its lead to 18 points.
Ford scored off an assist from Little to start the run, Evans scored twice and Ford scored again to give the Cougars a 45-27 lead with 4:56 remaining in the quarter. Payson got within 51-40 at the end of the quarter.
The Cougars led 61-51 before Little scored twice, including once on a dunk, and the Cougars led 65-51. Ford followed with a three-point basket to increase the lead to 68-51 with 2:40 remaining in the game.
Payson got within 68-59 in the final minute. Evans scored with 31 seconds remaining and made two free throws with 18 seconds remaining for the final margin.
West Central shot 58 percent (31-for-53) from the field in the game and outrebounded Payson 33-18. The Cougars had 17 assists as a team.
Evans scored 28 points and had five assists to lead West Central (21-7). Little scored 17 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists. Ford scored 14 points and had eight rebounds.
Berry scored nine points and had four steals. Price scored four points and had five rebounds. Tyson Brown had five rebounds.
The Cougars won the junior varsity game 57-54.
Price scored 16 points to lead the winners, and Landyn Woods scored 15. Carson Clevenger and Cameron Sievers both scored nine points. Nick Hamilton and Luke Kunz each scored four points.
