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NMCC drops home game to Scott City
NEW MADRID - The New Madrid County Central Eagles basketball team fell at home to the Scott City Rams on Tuesday night, 73-63.
The contest started well for the Eagles with 6-foot-5 Scott City center Alex King hitting the bench early with two fouls in the first quarter.
Without King in the middle, NMCC went to work on the offensive glass in the first. The Eagles grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the quarter, compared to the Rams four total rebounds.
The Rams did get out in transition in the first quarter and scored several easy baskets to take a 17-14 lead after one quarter.
Scott City started to hit their perimeter shots in the second quarter led by junior Jay Simmons and sophomore Shea Simmons. The two combined to hit three 3-pointers in the quarter to give the Rams a lift.
NMCC battled back with aggressive play in the post and only trailed 29-28 with with 2:30 to play in the second. The Rams responded with a 7-0 run to end the quarter and led 36-28 at halftime.
"It was the same old story for us," said NMCC head coach Travis Day, "we are our own worst enemy. We would make runs to cut into their lead and then we would do something to give them back the momentum. We gave up to many easy transition baskets and that is a case of the guys not matching up."
The Eagles grabbed the momentum in the third quarter with a little long ball. Juniors Leslie Williams and Kyle Marshall combined to hit three big 3's to help the Eagles get back into the game.
NMCC also continued to attack the basket in third with Lance Price and Darrence Perkins. Price and Perkins combined to score nine points in the quarter, as the Eagles outscored the Rams 22-17 and trailed 53-50 heading into the fourth quarter.
"Although their record indicates that they are having a down year," said Scott City head coach Lance Amick, "New Madrid has a great coach and great group kids. They definitely got athletes over there and you can never count out athletes."
Scott City took control of the game midway through the fourth quarter with a 8-1 run to increase their lead to 67-57 with 2:30 to play in the contest. The Eagles could not respond to the run and the Rams left NMCC with a hard-
fought win.
"I thought we stopped attacking the basket late in the game," said Day. "We started to stand around, hoping somebody else would make a play for us. We made some crucial turnovers in key spots and you cannot let that happen against a good team like Scott City."
The Rams put the Eagles away in the fourth with solid foul shooting. Scott City went 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the fourth. For the game, the Rams had a decided edge from the foul line hitting 19 free-throws compared to eight for NMCC.
"I thought we played well at times and coasted at others," said Amick. "We need more consistency from our players. However, a win is a win, especially on the road."
Caleb Estes led Scott City with 21 points and tied for the team lead with nine rebounds. Senior guard Jamie Pinkston had 17 points and led the Rams with four assists and four steals.
King scored eight of his 10 points in the second half and finished with nine rebounds and three blocks for Scott City. Senior forward Rynn Eskew had nine points and eight rebounds for the Rams.
Scott City had 33 rebounds (15 offensive) and seven steals as a team. The Rams did commit 16 turnovers in the contest.
Perkins came off the bench for the Eagles and led the team with 15 points and six rebounds (four offensive). NMCC outscored Scott City's bench 24-7 on the night.
Williams ended his night with 12 points and three steals, while Price had nine points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists. The Eagles had 34 rebounds (18 offensive) and 11 steals as a team. NMCC ended with 15 turnovers for the game.
Scott City (11-6) travels to Patton on Friday night to face Meadow Heights at 6 p.m. NMCC (4-12) travels to Doniphan on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Risco Tigers lost on the road Tuesday night to the Gideon Bulldogs, 70-61.
After a great shooting first quarter, the Tigers went cold in the second quarter, as the Bulldogs outscored Risco 23-12 to take a 31-27 halftime lead.
"We cooled off in the second quarter," said Risco head coach Brandon Blankenship. "We started to miss some easy shots and Gideon just killed us on the boards. They dominated on the offensive glass, just got opportunity after opportunity to score."
Risco hit nine 3's as a team and were led by Kyle White who hit four for 18 points.
Ricky Davis led the Tigers with 20 points and hit two 3-pointers.
Dustin Horad led Gideon with 24 points, 20 coming in the second half of action. Jordan Boone and Travis Miller each had 14 points, while Shane Deprow chipped in 10 points.
Risco (2-12) will play at Southland on Friday night. There will not be a junior varsity game.