Scott Central, Oran roll into tourney finals

Scott Central's Otto Porter pulls down a rebound against Delta in the semifinals of the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament Thursday night in Scott City.
(Photo by Josh Mills, Staff)

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SCOTT CITY -- Thursday night's Scott-Miss Conference Tournament late game featured a battle between two Eagles' clubs, with the Oran Eagles coming out on top over the East Prairie Eagles 58-36. The win insures a date with the top-seeded Scott Central Braves tonight at 8:30 p.m. for the championship.

Oran got out to an early lead in the contest but East Prairie refused to go away early. After one quarter of play, Oran led East Prairie 13-11.

A 9-0 run to start the second quarter left East Prairie trailing 22-11 with over five minutes to play in the quarter. Oran finished out the frame by outscoring their opponent 14-4.

The second half didn't go any easier for East Prairie. They were outscored 11-6 in the third quarter, then the mercy clock came and went several times throughout the fourth quarter before Oran finally put East Prairie away in the 22-point loss.

Jon Morrow led the way for the Oran Eagles in the victory. The post player finished with 14 points and pulled down rebound after rebound over the opposing Eagles.

"He did a good job on those defensive boards," said Oran head coach Joe Shoemaker of his post player, Morrow. "I accused him of missing those lay-ups on purpose just to pad his stats on the offensive end, but he did a good job."

East Prairie head coach Casey Knight said that the reason Morrow was so effective on the glass was because his team lacked fundamentals in the loss.

"Oran came out cold and missed some shots, but we didn't do the little things like boxing out," said Knight. "He (Morrow) got put-back after put-back. He did a good job in there.

"We talk about doing the little things, as coaches, until we're blue in the face, and to me, the little things are boxing out. That's the huge one. The only way you know you're playing good defense is when you box out and you get the rebound."

Shoemaker said that his squad just pulled ahead early and hung on until the end.

"We kind of got out to a little lead there and just maintained it in the second half," he said. "The kids played fairly hard but we've still got some things to work on there."

"East Prairie is working hard," Shoemaker added. "Casey (Knight) is doing a good job. They just missed some shots tonight. If they hit some of those shots, then it might have been a different game."

Behind Morrow, Nathan Michelsen finished with 13 points for Oran and Gabe Kielhofner tacked on 10.

Connor Scott and Dustin Caldwell finished with 15 points apiece to lead East Prairie.

East Prairie (3-10) will bounce back tonight at 5:30 p.m. against Delta to decide third place. Knight said that his squad will have to be ready to go against the 'fundamental' Bobcats.

"They execute well and they play good half-court man-to-man defense," said Knight of Delta. "We'll have to balance out their fundamentals with our own."

Oran (11-4) will take on Scott Central at 8:30 p.m. for the tournament title.

EAST PRAIRIE (36) -- Dalton Golightly 2, Kaleb Williford 2, Andrew Cartwright 2, Connor Scott 15, Dustin Caldwell 15. FG 15, FT 5-20, F 17. (3-pointers -- Scott 1. Fouled out -- none)

ORAN (58) -- Caleb Priggel 9, Dylan Adams 1, Preston Scherer 2, Nolan Urhahn 2, Gabe Kielhofner 10, Nathan Michelsen 13, Zac Chasteen 1, Reece Mangels 6, Jon Morrow 14. FG 23, FT 9-14, F 14. (3-pointers -- Priggel 1, Kielhofner 1, Michelsen 1. Fouled out -- none)

Scott Central 83, Delta 46

In earlier action, the No. 1 seed, Scott Central, battled with the Delta Bobcats early, but put the No. 4 seed away by a final of 83-46.

Otto Porter was too much for the Bobcats to handle in the paint as he swatted several shots and crashed the boards. The 6-8 junior finished with 30 points, 18 in the first half and 12 in the second.

Bobby Hatchett racked up 16 points for the Braves and teammates Dominique Porter and Trey Johnson each finished in double figures as well. Dominique Porter scored a scattered 13 points while Johnson added 12 in three quarters.

Chase Crowden had the big game for Delta as he finished with 23 points, knocking down five 3-pointers. The Bobcats hit eight 3-pointers in the contest.

Delta and East Prairie will decide third place while Scott Central will try to claim another Scott-Miss title against Oran.

DELTA (46) -- Teddy May 5, Cody Helderman 2, Zach Reigert 5, Chase Crowden 23, Cody Naramore 7, Shelby Kight 4. FG 17, FT 4-7, F 14. (3-pointers -- Crowden 5, May 1, Reigert 1, Naramore 1. Fouled out -- Naramore)

SCOTT CENTRAL (83) -- Bobby Hatchett 16, Trey Johnson 12, Otto Porter 30, Dominique Porter 13, Bryan Freed 2, Charles McClinton 8, Calvin Porter 1, John Rhoden 1. FG 33, FT 15-20, F 7. (3-pointers -- Hatchett 2. Fouled out -- none)