ORAN TOPS BELL CITY FOF FIFTH PLACE IN TOURNAMENT FIELD

After suffering a disheartening one-point loss to Charleston in Thursday's quarterfinals, a lot of people might have thought it would be hard for Oran to bounce back in the University High Christmas Tournament.

But Oran coach Mitch Wood figured the Eagles would rally -- and they did just that, winning their final two games and capturing fifth place with a 70-63 victory over Bell City Saturday at the Show Me Center.

Oran, the No. 9 seed, won three of four tourney contests and improved its record on the season to 7-3. Bell City, the 10th seed, also had a solid tournament as the Cubs (6-4) wound up sixth.

"The game against Charleston was a tough one, but we definitely came back well," said Wood, whose squad beat Scott City by a point in Friday's fifth-place semifinals. "You come to a tournament like this and you want to play four games. To win three of them, I thought we did a good job.

"We've got a young team (five sophomores play a lot for the Eagles) and we're going to make some mistakes, but I think we're getting better all the time. Hopefully we'll come back next year with even higher hopes."

Bell City, which had stunned Class 4A Cape Girardeau Central on Friday, bolted to early leads of 7-0 and 12-2 before the game settled into a back-and-forth affair that featured numerous lead changes but rarely a significant advantage for either squad.

Oran closed the first quarter with an 11-0 run to grab a 13-12 lead before Bell City went back ahead 33-32 at halftime.

A 3-pointer by sophomore point guard Ryne Wood -- the coach's son -- gave Oran a 35-33 lead at the outset of the third quarter and the Eagles never trailed again, although they never could shake the Cubs.

The Eagles built a 48-39 lead late in the third period. It was 50-45 after three. The Cubs pulled to within two points several times late, but Garrett Cook hit a big 3-pointer with 50 seconds left, then Wood and Adam Friga each hit two free throws in the final 32 seconds to seal the victory.

Wood and another sophomore, Nathan Seyer, each scored 15 points to lead the Eagles. Tyler Cookson, also a sophomore, added 14 points while seniors Friga and Cook contributed 10 and nine, respectively.

Bell City got 16 points from Gabe Scherer and 14 from both Eric Henry and Brian Phillips.

"We came in here seeded 10th, and to finish sixth, I have to be happy with that," said Bell City first-year coach David Heeb. "We had an opportunity to play four good teams, which will help prepare us down the road.

"They're a good group of kids. We stress playing hard and playing together. If we do that, we'll be hard to beat."