Advance, Scott Co. Central set up fifth-place meeting

Advance and Scott County Central both used strong starts to post victories Friday in the fifth-place semifinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

But that's pretty much where the similarities ended.

While sixth-seeded Advance never really let up during a 69-54 win over No. 7 Scott City, fourth-seeded Scott County Central had to hold on in beating No. 9 Oran 65-62.

"We started off pretty good but Oran came back on us. They never quit," Scott County coach Ronnie Cookson said.

For Advance, the lopsided victory was a sort of sweet revenge. Exactly two weeks ago -- on Dec. 15 -- Scott City routed the visiting Hornets 85-59.

"We did some things different," Advance coach Joe Shoemaker said. "We zoned them a little bit more than playing man, we pressed them more and we rebounded better."

Advance and Scott County will square off at 4:30 p.m. today at the Show Me Center to decide fifth and sixth places. Scott City and Oran unofficially finish tied for seventh in the 16-team event.

The Hornets (5-4) hit Scott City (4-4) with a 9-1 run to start the game and the Rams never recovered.

Advance led 18-6 after one quarter and opened up a commanding 33-13 halftime advantage. The Rams got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

"I feel we played real good defense, and they didn't shoot the ball well," Shoemaker said.

Alex Steil led the Hornets with 20 points and Trenton Moses added 17.

Steil has 60 points in three tournament games, as he is making a strong case to repeat his all-tournament selection from last season.

Caleb Estes paced the Rams with 17 points, Jamie Pinkston scored 16 and Alex King added 11.

"It didn't look like we wanted to play," Scott City coach Lance Amick said. "It's hard for me to understand."

Scott County (7-2) scored the first 15 points of the game against Oran (7-4) and the Eagles, like the Hornets, faced an uphill battle the rest of the way.

But Oran managed to make things interesting despite trailing 36-17 at halftime.

A basket by Chase Seyer with 5 minutes, 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter pulled the Eagles within 47-40.

The Braves answered with seven straight points to grab what appeared to be an insurmountable 54-40 advantage.

Oran, however, kept coming. A 3-pointer by Chris Asmus with 15 seconds left made it 64-59, but the Eagles got no closer until they hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"Other than the two touchdowns we gave them to start the game ... maybe we didn't know what time the game started," Oran coach Denver Stuckey said. "But I'm definitely proud of the way we came back."

Drew Thomas scored 22 points to lead the Braves. D.D. Gillespie had 19 and Caleb Johnson added 12.

Oran got 13 points from Asmus, 11 from Robert Lange, 10 from Seyer, 10 from Kody Campbell and Hunter Glastetter.

Looking ahead to today's fifth-place game, Shoemaker said, "It should be a good game ... if we can keep them off the boards."

Advance 69, Scott City 54

Scott City 6 7 22 19 -- 54

Advance 18 15 14 22 -- 69

SCOTT CITY (54) -- John Pinkston 2, Jay Simmons 3, Rynn Eskew 3, Jamie Pinkston 16, Caleb Estes 17, Travis Scherer 2, Alex King 11. FG 18 FT 16-28, F 10 (3-pointers: Simmons 1, Estes 1 . Fouled out: none.)

ADVANCE (69) -- Rusty Hendricks 4, Adam Baker 5, Tyler Wade 6, David VanGennip 8, Alex Steil 20, Jacob Bond 9, Trenton Moses 17. FG 29, FT 5-8, F 20 (3-pointers: Baker 1, Wade 2, VanGennip 1, Bond 2. Fouled out: none.)

Scott County Central 65, Oran 62

Oran 6 11 18 27 -- 62

Scott County 18 18 9 20 -- 65

ORAN (62) -- Kody Campbell 10, Robert Lange 11, Chase Seyer 10, Hunter Glastetter 10, Cody Romas 8, Chris Asmus 13 . FG 25 FT 8-14, F 22 (3-pointers: Campbell 2, Asmus 2 . Fouled out: Lange, Campbell.)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (65) -- D.D. Gillespie 19, Toby Heeb 3, Richard Brownlee 4, Bobby Hatchett 5, Drew Thomas 22, Caleb Johnson 12. FG 24, FT 13-26, F 17 (3-pointers: Heeb 1, Thomas 3. Fouled out: Heeb.)