Scott Central cruises to title

Sunday, January 24, 2010
Oran celebrates after winning the championship of the Scott-Miss Conference Tournament. (Josh Mills, Staff)

SCOTT CITY -- Scott Central head coach Kenyon Wright is now the owner of his first Scott-Miss Conference Tournament title. The top-seeded Braves and No. 1 team in Class 1 shut down Oran's offense quite effectively which enabled the 72-35 victory.

"I'm proud of the kids," said Wright after the win. "I didn't do anything, the kids are the ones that get out there and they're the ones that play the game and get it done. I was proud of them for getting out there and playing hard and working hard. They deserve it."

Scott Central scored seven unanswered points to begin the game. Fittingly it was Otto Porter who scored the first two points for the Braves, the leading scorer on the night.

Bryan Freed then cashed in a 3-pointer and Trey Johnson added two more points before Gabe Kielhofner knocked down a shot with 4:17 left in the first to break Oran's silence.

The Braves had three more small runs before ending the first quarter with a 23-11 lead.

Dominique Porter got the Scott Central offense rolling in the second quarter as he recorded the conventional 3-pointer with the free throw after a made basket. Otto Porter tacked on two then Bobby Hatchett began his impressive display of passing skills on an assist to Dominique Porter in the lane.

With over five minutes to play in the second quarter, the Braves led 30-11. They increased their lead as time wore on, taking a 45-22 lead into halftime.

A string of seven free throws and a handful of field goals aided a 12-0 run to start off the second half for Scott Central as their 45-22 lead to start the half became a 57-22 lead with just under three minutes in the third quarter.

Caleb Priggel scored the Eagles' first two points of the second half with 2:43 left in the third but from there the two clubs exchanged points until the fourth quarter surfaced with Scott Central on top 65-28.

Both clubs scored seven points in the fourth quarter before hardware was handed out to both clubs, Oran receiving second place and Scott Central claiming yet another tournament title.

The Braves' game plan of containing Oran post player Jon Morrow seemed to have worked quite well for Wright and his squad.

"They did a pretty good job on Jon (Morrow)," said Oran head coach Joe Shoemaker. "He didn't play well tonight and a lot of that is due to what they (Scott Central's defense) did."

Freed said after the game that Wright let his squad know beforehand that Morrow was their threat in the paint.

"Coach knew that if they could get the ball inside that he would score," said Freed. "So, we tried to keep it out of his hands."

Wright said that not only was Morrow a threat, but the other Oran shooters were as well, such as Nathan Michelsen, who is one of the Eagles' top scorers.

"(The game plan) was just watching their shooters and rebounding well," said Wright. "I thought our guys got in there and bumped and banged, and did a good job of rebounding. Oran is a good team, they're well-coached. Coach Shoemaker does a great job."

Even with the win, Wright said that there are several things that his squad has to work on and improve upon as the season carries on into the district tournament in a few short weeks.

"To be honest, as a coach, I see a lot of things that we have to fix," Wright said. "There's too many to say. There's a lot of things and I can't even pick one.

"We've just got to keep getting better between now and the next month and get ready for the end of the season coming up. We've got two ranked teams in our district (Leopold and Richland) and both of them are tough."

Shoemaker said that containing Otto Porter, whether it be on offense or defense, is a tough task.

"He does such a good job," said Shoemaker of Otto Porter. "He's almost playing two positions at once (on defense). He's pinching the middle so you can't get a pass into the middle and it looks like the sideline is open, but as soon as you put the ball on the floor and go, then he's got you trapped. At 6-6 and his long arms it makes it very difficult on a guy."

Otto Porter finished with 20 rebounds and led all scorers with 26 points. Hatchett tacked on 14 points and wowed the crowd with a one-handed dunk in the first half. He also recorded seven assists and seven steals.

Morrow led Oran with 10 points while Reece Mangels added eight, including two 3-pointers.

"We missed a lot of jump shots," said Shoemaker. "If you want to compete with a team like that you have to hit open shots and we didn't do a good enough job with that offensively."

Oran's (11-5) load doesn't get any lighter in the coming week as they'll be on the road against two tough teams, Oak Ridge on Tuesday and Leopold on Friday.

The Braves (15-1) will have to maintain their solid play as they welcome in Notre Dame on Tuesday night.

Oran111167--35
Scott Central2322207--72

ORAN (35) -- Caleb Priggel 2, Dylan Adams 2, Gabe Kielhofner 5, Nathan Michelsen 5, Zac Chasteen 2, Gavin Penrose 1, Reece Mangels 8, Jon Morrow 10. FG 14, FT 3-9, F 16. (3-pointers -- Mangels 2, Michelsen 1, Kielhofner 1. Fouled out -- none)

SCOTT CENTRAL (72) -- Blake Pobst 3, Bobby Hatchett 14, Trey Johnson 8, Otto Porter 26, Dominique Porter 5, Bryan Freed 8, Charles McClinton 4, John Rhoden 4. FG 28, FT 13-21, F 12. (3-pointers -- Freed 2, Hatchett 1. Fouled out -- none)

Varsity Third Place

Delta 68, East Prairie 55

In the third place contest, the Delta Bobcats once again got behind the scoring efforts of Chase Crowden and downed the East Prairie Eagles 68-55.

The Eagles played closely with Delta in the first half, but a nine point first half lead for the Bobcats increased in the second half more in each frame as they claimed third place.

Crowden finished with 23 points for Delta while teammate Cody Naramore added 12.

East Prairie once again saw a positive performance out of Connor Scott as the post player finished with 21 points. Dustin Caldwell added 12 in the loss.

East Prairie10131319--55
Delta16161620--68

EAST PRAIRIE (55) -- Dalton Golightly 3, Field LaPlant 2, Kaleb Williford 9, Andrew Cartwright 8, Connor Scott 21, Dustin Caldwell 12. FG 17, FT 17-27, F 17. (3-pointers -- Williford 2, Cartwright 1, Scott 1. Fouled out -- Scott)

DELTA (68) -- Teddy May 8, Cody Helderman 5, Zach Reigert 8, Chase Crowden 23, Cody Naramore 12, Cody Schremp 6, Shelby Kight 6. FG 28, FT 8-15, F 19. (3-pointers -- May 2, Helderman 1, Crowden 1. Fouled out -- Schremp)

JV Championship

Scott Central 66, Delta 64

In the title game for the junior varsity portion of the tournament, the Delta Bobcats nearly pulled off the upset of the Scott Central Braves. At the end of regulation, Delta a player knocked down a 3-pointer just as timeout was called, negating the go-ahead shot.

Then the Bobcats tried to draw up a new play but time eventually expired in regulation, sending the game to overtime.

There, Tyler Masters drained a 3-pointer and Jaylen Porter went 3-for-4 at the line as the Braves outscored Delta 6-4, claiming the junior varsity title by a final score of 66-64.

LaMarcus Steward finished with 31 points for Scott Central while Porter added 16.

Delta was led by Austin Lashley's 24 points while Dallas Naramore tacked on 19 and Gregory Brawley added 14.

Delta61621174--64
Scott Central161812146--66

DELTA (64) -- Tanner Schabbing 4, Gregory Brawley 14, Kody Bartles 3, Austin Lashley 24, Dallas Naramore 19. FG 25, FT 9-14, F 16. (3-pointers -- Brawley 4, Bartles 1. Fouled out -- none)

SCOTT CENTRAL (66) -- Chris Brown 6, Jaylen Porter 16, LaMarcus Steward 31, Tyler Masters 3, Antonio Johnson 2, Steven Minner 2, Cory Gardner 6. FG 25, FT 15-22, F 16. (3-pointers -- Masters 1. Fouled out -- Brown)

JV Third Place

Scott City 44, Oran 28

The Scott City Rams claimed third place in the junior varsity portion of the tournament as they defeated the Oran Eagles 44-28.

Zach Estes led the Rams with 12 points while Tyler Adams tacked on 11.

Oran was led by Dalton Elfrink and Blake Henson, who each finished with 10 points apiece.

Scott City7131113--44
Oran60616--28

SCOTT CITY (44) -- Jesse Sanders 3, Tyler Adams 11, Logan Henson 9, Jake Koch 2, Ryan Fortner 2, Zach Estes 12, Jonathan McFall 3, Cody Ashcraft 2. FG 15, FT 8-8, F 18. (3-pointers -- Sanders 1, Adams 3, Henson 1, McFall 1. Fouled out -- Estes)

ORAN (28) -- Blake Carlyle 2, Dalton Elfrink 10, Peyton Kern 4, Blake Henson 10, Adam Schaefer 2. FG 11, FT 6-19, F 11. (3-pointers -- none. Fouled out -- none)

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