WEST MADISON — When Scott coach Jason Kingery says his team plays pressure defense, he means it in a technical sense.

But there also is a psychological connotation to it.

Even when the Skyhawks aren't playing their brand of man-to-man, chest-to-chest, face-to-face, ball-hawking defense, the pressure remains.

Case in point: Last Tuesday night, when Scott rolled to a 57-37 home win over Boone County rival Sherman in front of a raucous crowd.

The Tide committed 30 turnovers. Half of those were forced (Scott steals). The other half, however, were unforced (Sherman miscues).

"We just didn't value our possessions," Sherman coach Chris Duncan said. "I'm at a loss for words."

The Tide was at a loss for points in the first quarter, when the Skyhawks held the visitors to one field goal (a layup by sophomore forward Justin Maloskey with 1:21 remaining in the opening period).

Scott led 12-2 after the first quarter.

"We get in their face and play pressure defense," Scott junior guard Carl Shaffer said when a reporter asked him why the Skyhawks' defense is so effective. "It's kind of hard to explain. It seems like every time we get a stop or a steal, it gets in the other team's head."

That appeared to be the case in the second half but not the second quarter, when the Tide used a 13-9 scoring advantage to pull within six points at 21-15 heading into halftime.

Inside the visitors' locker room at intermission, Sherman sophomore guard Colby Treadway told his teammates they needed "to find a way to win."

Instead, Duncan said, "we found a way to lose."

"We had a chance coming out of halftime," said Duncan, whose team also suffered a 57-41 setback against Scott on Jan. 18 in the rivals’ first meeting. "But we came out in the third quarter and didn't do anything."

Led by senior forward Greg Parkins, Scott built a 47-27 lead entering the fourth period behind a 26-12 third-quarter scoring advantage.

"That's a credit to our team," said Kingery, whose team led by as many as 22 points in the final quarter. "They take coaching for what it's worth. We always make halftime adjustments. They believe in what we tell them, and they go out there on the court and do it."

Parkins scored 11 of his game-high 23 points during the Skyhawks' game-clinching surge. He also grabbed four rebounds, recorded three steals and dished one assist.

"Greg has become a really good player for us," Kingery said.

Senior guard Marcus Linville finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also added three assists.

Shaffer contributed nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Senior forward Jared Jarrell provided seven points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists, all in the second half.

Kingery benched Jarrell for the first half because he missed a practice.

"He was sick,” said Kingery, whose team is ranked No. 10 in the sports writers poll this week. “Our philosophy is, if you are too sick to practice, you are too sick to play."

Starting in Jarrell’s place, sophomore forward Tyler Ramsey grabbed two rebounds and recorded one steal.

Sophomore guard Shawn Ballard (one assist and one rebound) and senior guard Earl “Trey” Workman (seven assists, five steals and one rebound) added five and three points, respectively.

Treadway led Sherman with 11 points, followed by sophomore forward Jacob Rollo with eight points, junior guard Brandon Lovejoy with seven points, Maloskey with six points, freshman guard Justin Woodrum with four points and senior center Brandon Adkins with one point.

The teams will meet again in the Class AA Region 6, Section 1 tournament on Feb. 26 at the Williamson Field House.

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Scott split its two games in Parkersburg South’s Groundhog Day Tournament last weekend.

Scott lost to Parkersburg South 80-46 in the opening round Friday and beat Ballou (Washington, D.C.) 65-54 in the consolation game Saturday.

“This tournament was a great steppingstone for us,” Kingery said. “The first night, we took one step back. The second night, we took four steps forward. So, we are three steps ahead.”

Kingery said it was easy to identify the difference in Scott’s loss, which ended its nine-game winning streak: The Patriots shot 57.6 percent from the floor; the Skyhawks shot 22.7 percent.

“They shot great; we shot horrible,” he said.

Jarrell led Scott with 17 points, followed by McComas with 13 points.

Workman and Parkins were next with six and five points, respectively.

Shaffer scored four points. Ballard added one point.

“That was by far the worst game we have played all year,” Kingery said.

Scott used a tenacious defense and an unselfish offense to finish third in the two-day, four-team tournament.

The Skyhawks forced 19 turnovers and dished 23 assists against the Knights.

Jarrell (22 points) and Parkins (21 points) combined for 43 points. Jarrell also added seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. Parkins also contributed four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Linville (three rebounds, two steals and one assist) was Scott’s other double-digit scorer with 10 points.

McComas (12 assists, four steals and one rebound) followed with seven points.

Shaffer (eight rebounds and three assists) and sophomore center Tyler Thompson (three rebounds) added three and two points, respectively.

Workman failed to score but contributed five assists, three steals and two rebounds.

“I'm going to go out on a limb and say that was one of the best wins in Scott High School history,” said Kingery, whose team successfully employed a triangle-and-two defense against the taller and more athletic Knights.

“Ballou is one of the best teams in Washington, D.C. It was a mismatch. Their frontline was 6-8, 6-8 and 6-6 and they had a Division I guard who was 6-4. The kids played with pride and heart and effort. They went out there and put it on a very, very good team.”

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Sherman suffered a 74-51 setback against host Independence on Friday in Coal City.

The Patriots led 15-7 after the first quarter, 34-16 at halftime and 53-31 after the third period.

Smith and Adkins led Sherman with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Lovejoy and Treadway were next with seven and six points, respectively.

Senior forward Dustin Gillespie scored five points. Maloskey and Rollo added four points apiece. Woodrum and sophomore guard Tyler Boulet netted three and one points, respectively.

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Up next for Scott (12-4) is a home game against Westside today, a road game against Chapmanville on Friday, a road game against Chesapeake (Ohio) on Saturday and a home game against Williamson on Tuesday.

Sherman hosted Liberty Raleigh on Tuesday. Results from that game were unavailable for this week’s issue but will be published in next week’s edition.

Up next for Sherman (4-12) is a pair of home games against Herbert Hoover on Thursday and Buffalo Putnam on Tuesday.

Contact Jacob Messer at jacobmesser@coalvalleynews.com and 369-1165 or 785-8951.