18 and counting: Scott County Central boys basketball team upends Mid-Buchanan 53-48 for state crown

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Scott County Central boys basketball team needed Javonta Daniel back in the game.

After leading for the entire first half and well into the second, Mid-Buchanan erased a 10-point halftime deficit to tie the game with 7 minutes, 39 seconds remaining in the Class 2 state championship game.

Daniel, who missed just two of his 13 shots, gave the Braves a two-point lead a minute later, but the 6-foot-2 senior forward was whistled for his fourth foul on the Dragons' next possession and missed the next three minutes.

With the game tied again at the 3:44 mark, Daniel returned to score five of SCC's final seven points to help the Braves capture their second consecutive and 18th overall state title with a 53-48 victory over Mid-Buchanan on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.

Scott County Central's Javonta Daniel hoists the trophy after their win over Mid-Buchanan in the Class 2 championship Saturday, March 14, 2015 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

"I just had to stay calm. Stay calm and just try to pull this one out," Daniel said. "I wanted to be in there so bad. I knew I would go back in eventually, so when I did I was going to lock it up."

Daniel finished with 23 points to lead SCC to a win but only played a total of 16 minutes because of foul trouble. The Braves outscored the Dragons 35-23 when Daniel was on the floor, but during his time spent on the bench, Mid-Buchanan outscored SCC 25-18.

Daniel picked up his third foul with a minute to play before halftime and did not start the third. Daniel scored SCC's only two points of the third with 39 seconds left in the period and scored the Braves first two points of the fourth before heading back to the bench.

"It's just kind of instinct," Staple said about deciding when to put Daniel back in the game. "We let him sit in the second quarter because Tyus [Banks] was playing well and we were able to kind of maintain our lead. But Mid-Buchanan just came out and made a heck of a run in that third and I just couldn't sit him any longer. If it's up to him, he would've never come out and fouled out in the second quarter. That's the thing on instinct. You just have to trust your player and I trust him out there."

Mid-Buchanan capitalized on Daniel's absence, scoring 12 straight points in the third quarter to take its first lead of the game 38-36 with 1:04 left in the third.

"It was rough and it's tough to lose one of your starters in that point of the game," Staple said about SCC's slow start to the second half. "And we talked about at halftime that the first possession was key to us because a 10-point lead can turn into maybe 12 or 14. But I thought we rushed a couple shots, which led to Mid-Buchanan getting a couple baskets, and it just changed the whole momentum of the game. But even in the midst of that we just kind of calmed down and kind of said, 'Hey, we've been here before. Good teams are going to make good runs. We're playing in the state championship against a great team, so just relax, bear down and let's pull this one out."

Mid-Buchanan senior forward Garet Moulden scored a game-high 24 points, including eight in the third.

Scott County Central's Jeffery Porter works to get a shot off past Mid-Buchanan's Austin Scaggs in the second quarter of Saturday's championship game.

"That's what we were trying to do is really pound it inside there," Mid-Buchanan coach Bryce Kemper said "I thought we did good. *... We knew they didn't play a whole lot of people, so we were going to pound it inside. We usually put a lot of people in foul trouble because we attack inside pretty hard, and that's what we were going to try to do, so we were trying to get it inside to [Austin] Scaggs and get Moulden on the drives and stuff. We just couldn't get him completely fouled out. That would have been nice."

Daniel returned for the Braves with 3:27 left in the third. After missing his first shot of the second half, Daniel scored on a layup to tie the game at 38 heading to the fourth.

The two teams traded leads twice before Jeffery Porter's layup with 6:06 remaining gave SCC the lead for good.

Moulden scored back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 46 with 4:19 to play before Daniel returned to help secure a Braves' victory.

"I thought gameplan-wise, we did a really good job," Kemper said. "I thought we attacked the paint. We didn't settle for 3s. We didn't do stuff like that. We turned the ball over too much early on, and that was critical, obviously, but I thought we attacked the paint pretty well. I thought we did the job you need to do. When you live in the paint that long, that should do some good things for your team."

Moulden scored the Dragons' last basket of the game in the paint to pull his team within four points with a little over a minute to go. Mid-Buchanan put up two 3s in the final 30 seconds, both of which fell short.

Daniel scored SCC's first six points of the game on its first three possessions of the game.

Scott County Central's Javonta Daniel shoots over Mid-Buchanan's Austin Scaggs in the third quarter of Saturday's game at Mizzou Arena.

"I was feeling excited," Daniel said. "Had a good warm-up like Tre [Moore] did but came out under a lot of pressure. This is my second one, but I didn't really play much last year, so my role really changed to being a main one in the game. I had to just come out, block everybody out, stay calm and do what I had to do to help my team get this 'W.'"

SCC senior guard Moore added the next five points, including a 3-pointer with 4:05 left in the first to extend the lead to 13-5.

Moore added two more points in the final minute of the first as SCC led 21-12.

Mid-Buchanan pulled within four points with a 13-8 run to start the second, but the Braves extended it again with a 7-1 run just before halftime and led 36-26 at the break.

Daniel, Porter and Moore were the only three Braves, who played just six players in the game. Senior Drake Kesler, Moore and Porter all played the entire game while Matthew Blissett played 31 of the 32 minutes. Junior Tyus banks played the other 17 minutes.

"They all feel great," Staple said about having his second state title in three years as the Braves coach. "I'm still just kind of in awe, but I just have so much faith in these kids. I honestly felt that if we played the way we needed to all year we could end up right where we are right now."

Mid-Buchanan 12 14 12 10 -- 48

Scott County Central 21 15 2 15 -- 53

MID-BUCHANAN (48) -- Jacob Meikel 5, Austin Scaggs 5, Bradyn Kemper 2, Chase Gilbert 6, Garet Moulden 24, Hunter Scaggs 1, Jackson Rumpf 2. FG 21, FT 4-8, F 14. (3-pointers: Kemper 1, Moulden 1. Fouled out: none.)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (53) -- Javonta Daniel 23, Jeffery Porter 17, Tre Moore 13. FG 22, FT 7-13, 15. (3-pointers: Porter 1, Moore 1. Fouled out: none.)