Oran uses late run to beat Scott City
ORAN -- The Oran Eagles basketball team charged past the Scott City Rams in the second half of Friday's game to 40-37 victory in Oran.
The young Eagles (2-3) found themselves outplayed by and trailing the Rams (2-2) 27-16 at halftime.
However, the Eagles came out re-energized in the second half and began to battle back. Oran was finally able to even the score with 3:45 left in the game. That was the first time the game was tied since 6:00 left in the second quarter.
The Eagles dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Scott City 14-2 in the games final period.
Oran head coach Joel Shoemaker noted Friday's win was a great one for his program.
"Obviously, when you have a young team like ours, your always happy to get the win," Shoemaker. "It would have been easy for us to just fold up when we were down. That's a testament to our kids mental toughness. We were able to battle back and get a big win. Anytime you can get a win against a program like Scott City and a coach like Lance (Amick). He does a great job, we feel very fortunate."
A major factor in the Eagles come from behind win was the play of sophomore center Jon Morrow. Morrow finished the game with 18 points. 10 of Morrows' points came on critical possessions in the second half.
Shoemaker was pleased with Morrow's play.
"When he (Morrow) gets to playing hard and consistent, he is a real force inside," Shoemaker said after his teams Friday victory. "He (Morrow) is still a little inconsistent, he is only a sophomore. But he really stepped up for us tonight and gave us a big lift at the end."
Shoemaker also pointed to valuable contributions from his bench.
"I think our bench did a good job," he said. "Some of our guys didn't necessarily show up in the stat book but made big contributions tonight."
Oran utilized solid game management to secure the win late in Friday's game.
"That (game management) is very important to us, especially as a young team," Shoemaker said. "We've really focused on it. For the most, part we did a good job managing the game, I would have liked to hit a couple for free throws there late, but I was still impressed with the way they handled themselves late in the game."
Rams head coach Lance Amick didn't have much to say after his team's tough loss.
"We played very hard, just not very smart," Amick said. "We just didn't get the job done."
Shoemaker and his Eagles will take on the 3-2 East Prairie Eagles in Oran next Tuesday.