2023 Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Braves beat Cubs to win consolation title

Scott County Central entered the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament with a winning record and left with the consolation championship for the first time since 2018.

The Braves earned their elusive prize with a 66-52 win over Bell City on Saturday, Dec. 30 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Namarius Banks-Warren put the team on his back by scoring 31 points. The senior has had high scoring nights before but this was the first time this season he scored over 30 points in a game.

“I was hot today so I was just shooting it,” Banks-Warren said. “If I can I try to dish it out, pass to somebody else, but I had the hot hand.”

Fellow Braves senior Asher Britt scored 12 points as the only double-digit scorer. Britt said on Thursday the Braves have long put in the work to improve in past years but haven’t been able to get over the hump. Now at 7-4, it seems the Braves are finally getting over that hump.

“This summer we dialed it in,” Banks-Warren said. “Every time in practice we hit it hard. We just trust each other.”

Banks-Warren scored 17 of the Braves’ 35 points to lead to them leading 35-32 at halftime. Both teams ran out of gas in the third quarter as SCC slightly added to its lead with a 11-10 period.

Leading 46-42 entering the fourth quarter, the Braves turned on the gas by scoring 20 points and doubling Bell City’s scoring output in the final period to seal the win.

Scott County Central head coach Tim Carlisle has long emphasized free throw shooting this season. Saturday’s game was a market improvement as the Braves made 15-of-21 from the charity stripe. Bell City was also proficient from the line but had limited opportunities, as the Cubs only made 7-of-10 free throws.

This has been a much different Braves team than recent years. Their last winning season was 2018-19 when they last won the consolation title. The last time they won 10 games was 2021-22. It’s not yet New Year’s Day and the Braves have two more wins than last season.

Now the Braves are entering 2024 needing only three wins to reach 10 again.

"It's building blocks for the future," Carlisle said after Thursday’s win over Oran in the consolation semifinals. "We have all the potential in the world to go out and play hard-nosed basketball.

The Braves entered the tournament as the No. 13 seed despite a 4-3 record. They came up short against No. 4 Notre Dame in the first round but won against Meadow Heights on Wednesday, Oran on Thursday and now Bell City on Saturday.

“It just proves our seed doesn’t represent you,” Britt said on Thursday. “We know how good we are and what we can do.”

Bell City was led by Logan Stubenrauch and Dawson Loomes, who each scored 12 points. Baylor Eftink also added 10 points for the Cubs, who entered the tournament with an 0-6 record but leaves with a pair of wins and a consolation final appearance for the first time since 2014.

The Braves enter district play with the second most wins in Class 1 District 2, tying Risco with seven. The Braves return to action on Jan. 4 when they take on Portageville on the road with renewed confidence.

“The sky is the limit to be honest,” Banks-Warren said.

Bell City (2-7) will travel to Risco on Jan. 4.

__NO. 13 SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL 66, NO. 15 BELL CITY 52__

Bell City 14 18 10 10 — 52

Scott County Central 19 16 11 20 — 66

Scott County Central (66) — Namarius Banks-Warren 31, Asher Britt 12, Cortavion Banks 9, Courtney Sanders III 6, Zavior Mize 6, Ty Murray 2. FG: 23. (3-pointers: Banks-Warren 3, Mize 2)

Bell City (52) — Logan Stubenrauch 12, Dawson Loomes 12, Baylor Eftink 10, Kale Richardson 6, Juan Hernandez 5, Drew Roberts 3, Charlie Heiple 2, Jake Asher 2. FG: 20. (3-pointers: Stubenrauch 4, Hernandez 1)