Bell City holds off Clarkton in battle of ranked teams

Nick Niemczyk hit five 3-pointers and tallied 35 points before fouling out late in the game as Bell City fended off a furious Clarkton comeback for an 81-78 victory in boys basketball Thursday.

The Cubs (20-2) led by 16 points at the half, but Clarkton outscored Bell City 52-39 in the second half to close the gap.

Phillip Gross netted 19 points and Austin Bush drained three 3-pointers to aid Bell City.

Clarkton 14 12 29 23 -- 78

Bell City 18 24 23 16 -- 81

Delta's Amanda Seabaugh drew a foul from Woodland's Kayla Acup on a second-quarter shot Thursday at Delta High School. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

Clarkton (78) -- Tolby Richardson 9, Justin Brown 14, Casey Redden 10, Dustin Ferguson 15, Devaris Parker 18, DeAngelo White 12. FG 29, FT 17-21, F 15 (3-pointers: Redden 2, Richardson. Fouled out: none)

Bell City (81) -- Ethan Watkins 7, Phillip Gross 19, Nick Niemczyk 35, Marty Dames 7, Austin Bush 9, John Paul Arnold 4. FG 33, FT 6-17, F 17 (3-pointers: Niemczyk 5, Bush 3, Watkins. Fouled out: Niemczyk.)

Kelly 85, Delta 22

Josh DeBrock tied the Bobcats' scoring output on his own.

DeBrock scored a game-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Hawks improved to 10-11.

Woodland's Becky Brannon blocks Delta's Taylor Smith as she goes in for a shot during the second quarter on Thursday, February , 2008 at Delta. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

Kelly jumped out to a 34-point lead at halftime, and bumped the lead to 60 entering the final quarter.

Omar Campos added 12 in the win.

Chase Rhodes led Delta with 11 points.

Delta 4 9 2 7 -- 22

Kelly 26 21 28 10 -- 85

Delta (22) -- Jason Stevens 2, Tyler Martin 2, Alex Parks 4, Chase Rhodes 11, Robert Gramlisch 3. FG 10, FT 0-1, F 7. (3-pointers: Gramlisch 1, Rhodes 1. Fouled out: None)

Kelly (85) -- Mark Burger 2, Omar Campos 12, Chris Cooper 10, Josh DeBrock 22, Zach Essner 2, Bryce Faulkner 1, Levi Felter 6, Brett Harper 4, Zach Hicks 3, Josh Rodgers 8, Chase Smith 3, Eric Turley 8, Blake Wade 2. FG 37, FT 2-7, F 5. (3-pointers: DeBrock 4, Campos 2, Smith 1, Felter 1, Hicks 1. Fouled out: None)

New Salem 82, Bethel 38

New Salem stomped Bethel in the semifinals of their conference tournament.

The second-seeded Eagles (23-6) were led by Boone Gaines with 28 points, while Dillon Gaines netted 23.

Trent Jones added 15 points for New Salem, which advances to take on the top-seeded Rivers of Life team in the finals.

New Salem 21 22 24 15 -- 82

Bethel 8 16 12 2 -- 38

New Salem (82) -- Dillon Gaines 23, Dillion Sutton 8, Brett Jones 4, Boone Gaines 28, Trent Jones 15, Samuel O'Brien 1, Josh Davault 2, Jacob Green 1. FG 33, FT 7-8, F 12 (3-pointers: B. Gaines 4, T. Jones 3, D. Gaines 2. Fouled out: none)

Bethel (38) -- Jerod Hogan 7, James Gutherie 15, Joe Hannis 10, Kyle Durell 4, Chris Owens 2. FG 16, FT 2-5, F 16 (3-pointers: Gutherie 3, Hogan. Fouled out: none)

GIRLS BASKETBALLDelta 51, Woodland 25

The Bobcats shut out the Cardinals in the first quarter, and rolled to an easy victory on senior night.

Sarah Keys paced Delta (19-1) with 10 points.

Lauren Johnson led Woodland with 10 points.

Woodland 0 8 6 11 -- 25

Delta 8 21 14 8 -- 51

Woodland (25) -- Lauren Johnson 10, Kyla Choate 8, Taylor Steckman 3, Becky Brannon 2, Kaitlin McCormick 2. FG 10, FT 4-8, F 21 (3-pointers: Johnson. Fouled out: Johnson.)

Delta (51) -- Sara Blattel 2, Alison Burger 5, Rebecca Cox 2, Brittni Deprow 2, Amanda Drew, Sarah Keys 10, Jessica Kidd 7, Jodi Menz 9, Amanda Seabaugh 7, Taylor Smith 7. FG 19, FT 12-26, F 10 (3-pointers: Seabaugh. Fouled out: none)

JV -- Delta won 33-32.

Dexter 58, Central 42

The Bearcats erased the Tigers' two-point lead after the first quarter and held on for the victory.

Wendi Zickfield led Central with 15 points, while Taylor Kirn added 12 points. Sadie Pittman grabbed six rebounds for the Tigers (11-11).

Central 15 4 8 15 -- 42

Dexter 13 11 14 20 -- 58

Central (42) -- Sadie Pittman 4, Tierra Walker 2, Chelsea Pannier 5, Breia Twiggs 2, Taylor Kirn 12, Sarah Uptmor 2, Wendi Zickfield 15. FG 17, FT 7-12, F 18. (3-pointers: Zickfield 1. Fouled out: Pannier, Uptmor)

Dexter (58) -- Sammy Waldner 10, Brooke Thrower 5, Katelyn Heil 11, Jill Temples 13, Ashlee Taylor 13, Abbie Warren 3, Cathryn Heil 3. FG 22, FT 13-20, F 15. (3-pointers: Thrower 1. Fouled out: None)

Meadow Heights 55, Scott City 49

Chelsey Kight turned in a monster effort, scoring a team-high 17 points and grabbing 18 rebounds for the Panthers.

Amanda Hendrickson added 15 points for Meadow Heights (8-11), which shot 37 percent from the free-throw line (16-of-43).

Becky Holder led the Rams with 13 points before fouling out.

Scott City 12 14 11 12 -- 49

Meadow Heights 15 13 14 13 -- 55

Scott City (49) -- Stephanie Essner 5, Becky Holder 13, Whitney Tapley 12, Emily Essner 9, Megan Raines 2, Ashley Brant 6, Macy Heisserer 2. FG 21, FT 4-12, F 20 (3-pointers: S. Essner 1, Holder 1, E. Essner 1. Fouled out: S. Essner, Holder, E. Essner)

Meadow Heights (55) -- Ashley Doublin 8, Amanda Hendrickson 15, Heather Dietiker 5, Sahra Mills 2, Jillian Mills 8, Chelsey Kight 17. FG 19, FT 16-43, F 15 (3-pointers: Doublin. Fouled out: None)

JV -- Meadow Heights won 43-30.

Scott County Central 46, Saxony Lutheran 35

The Braves led by two points entering the final quarter before outscoring the host Crusaders 17-8 in the final frame for the road victory. Brianna Johnson led Scott County Central with 19 points, while Kisha Ross added 10.

Saxony Lutheran (3-15), playing with seven freshmen due to injuries, were led by River King with 13 points.

Scott County Central 7 12 10 17 -- 46

Saxony Lutheran 7 5 15 8 -- 35

Scott County Central (46) -- Jovonne Banks 4, Brianna Johnson 19, Brittney Jones 2, Kisha Ross 10, Iesha Turner 9, Markita Mosley 2. FG 20, FT 6-10, F 19 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

Saxony Lutheran (35) -- Brooke Valleroy 8, Emma Meraz 5, Julia Steffens 5, Logan Hunt 2, River King 13, Abby Hartmann 2. FG 13, FT 9-20, F 14 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

Kelly 56, New Madrid 51

Debra Hall the Hawks Kelly with 28 points as they earned the road victory.

Londyn Backfisch added 10 points for Kelly (15-6).

Kelly 11 18 9 18 -- 56

New Madrid 14 13 10 14 -- 51

Kelly (56) -- Kayla Cissell 9, Debra Hall 28, Tara Johnson 7, Londyn Backfisch 10, Kristen Powell 2. FG 17, FT 24-33, F 15 (3-pointers: Johnson 2. Fouled out: none)

NMCC (51) -- Tameika Williams 20, Shameika Williams 11, Audriana Mims 5, Jasmine Flennoy 9, McDaniel 4. FG 21, FT 9-18, F 21 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

-- From staff reports