2023 Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Peters and Forck lead Hawks to fifth-place win

The Kelly Hawks earned a fifth-place Christmas Tournament win on the backs of Ross Peters and Dalton Forck. The Hawks defeated the Scott City Rams 56-51 while Peters and Forck combined for 33 points.

The game began as a defensive battle with both teams only being able to score right underneath the basket. The Hawks managed to get a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 14-8.

Kelly head coach Noel Trimmer said the defensive effort of his team helped them hold the lead even though they were not shooting so well.

Scott City's Jackson Gloth dribbles the ball while Kelly's Dalton Forck defends during the fifth place game in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 30, at the Show Me Center.Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

“If we had not played decent defense we could have very easily fallen three or four buckets behind but we were able to maintain a couple of bucket lead because we played solid defense,” Trimmer said. “I thought the whole tournament, we played pretty solid defense.”

The lockdown defense of the Hawks continued in the second quarter as the Rams were held to taking outside shots, none of which were falling. Scott City used a timeout after which they knocked down some threes and held Kelly to just three points to shorten the lead to 25-22 at the half.

The Rams continued to do well on offense in the third, using fast break points off turnovers and knocking down a few more threes to take a 31-29 lead. Unfortunately for Scott City, the offense went ice cold and Kelly led by six, 39-33 after three.

Kelly's Ross Peters puts up a shot during a December 30, 2023 Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament game between the Kelly Hawks and the Scott City Rams at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Kelly defeated Scott City, 56-51.Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Scott City could not get any closer than four points as the Hawks maintained the lead, with 12 fourth-quarter points from Peters. Trimmer had nothing but praise to say about his junior guard.

“Ross is one of those guys who’s just a flat-out gamer all the time and if you allow him to make a run at you look out. He reads what the opposing defense gives us. He attacks those little open areas about as well as anybody I've ever coached,” Trimmer said.

The Hawks finished fifth out of 16 teams which is something Forck said was awesome for their team.

“It really means a lot, I know a lot of our guys feel like we can finish higher than this,” Forck said. “But to secure a fifth-place finish in this tournament really means a lot to us.”