ADVANCE STINGS SCOTT CITY 55-48

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- It may be the Christmas season, but the foul-plagued Scott City Rams gave the Advance Hornets far too many gifts.

Advance (5-1) used a 10-point advantage at the charity stripe to down the Rams 55-48 at Scott City on Friday night.

The loss dropped Scott City to 4-2.

Advance never trailed, with its biggest lead being 14 points, while Scott City could only get to within three of the Hornets.

Andrew Jenkins keyed the Hornets' first-half lead of 31-22 with 14 points and a perfect 8-for-8 from the line.

"We just shot poorly and did not play well at all," said a disappointed Scott City coach Derek McCord.

The second half was more of the same with Scott City still cold from the floor and unable to penetrate the Advance zone defense.

Neither team shot well from the field as Scott City was a horrid 17-for-67 on all field goal attempts 4-for-25 from beyond the arc. Advance wasn't much better at 16-for-41, but the Hornets' huge free-throw advantage spelled the difference. Advance was 20-for-29 from the foul line, while the Rams were 10-for-12.

With 6:33 to go in the fourth quarter Scott City trailed by 47-33 and went on an 11-2 run to narrow the margin to 49-44 with 3:30 left.

But more poor shooting haunted Scott City down the stretch. The Rams missed five three-pointers and six of their seven shots overall in the final minute.

Jenkins paced the Hornets with 18 points, while John French had 13 including some key baskets down the stretch when Scott City was making a final run to get back in it.

Nick Steimle, a 6-foot-7 center, led the Rams with 18 points and Ben Sample had 15.

In a matchup that is developing into quite a rivalry, the Rams and Hornets faced each other in the finals of last year's University High Christmas Tournament with the Rams capturing the championship.

The Rams, the fourth seed, and the Hornets, seeded fifth, for the 2000 tournament -- first-round play begins on Dec. 27 -- are likely to meet again very soon.

Scott City's junior varsity took control in the final minute to down Advance 56-52. The Rams were up only by two with 0:48 seconds left.

Tyler Ward led the Rams with 19 points.

Eric O'Hare and Jason Bahr paced the Hornets with 17 points apiece.