Bell City rings up win, faces Oran today

Fifth-seeded Bell City topped No. 12 Scott City 78-49 to set up a much-anticipated rematch against district foe Oran in the second round of the University High School Christmas Tournament.

Oran (7-1), the No. 4 seed, romped over No. 13 Leopold 75-38 in Wednesday's first-round action. The Eagles already own a two-point victory over Bell City (7-2) in an early-season game.

Bell City coach David Heeb, acknowledging the heated rivalry, said, "This is a big game. A big game for our district.

"They've had our number since I've been at Bell City. We're 0-3 against them and we've lost those three games by a total of five points."

Bell City and Oran collide tonight at 9 p.m.

In other first-round play in the upper portion of the bracket, top-seeded Charleston (4-4), holder of a record 13 U-High titles, ripped Chaffee 81-40. The Red Devils fell to 1-5.

The Bluejays will face No. 8 Scott County Central (7-1), a 82-78 winner over No. 9 Meadow Heights, at 4:30 p.m.

Against Scott City, Bell City rode a late second-quarter spurt to separate itself from the struggling Rams, who fell to 1-6.

The Cubs took a 16-14 lead into the second quarter, and found themselves tied with the Rams at 23-23 with less than five minutes left in the half.

Said Heeb, "Scott City's big and I thought in the first half they stayed with us on the boards and that helped them stay in the game."

But a 14-3 run about midway through the second stanza sent Bell City up 37-26 by the intermission.

Sophomore point-guard Dominitrix Johnson was the offensive catalyst for the Cubs in the first half with 15 of his 19 points.

Hot-shooting senior Jason Rampley keyed a 22-point third quarter for Bell City with all 11 of his points, including three 3-pointers. The Cubs held a comfortable 20-point advantage, 59-39, after three quarters.

Scott City didn't help itself with shaky ball-handling, especially during the second half.

"We talked before the game and said that if we made 20-plus turnovers in this game, we would not win, " said Scott City coach Kerry Thompson. "And that's what we did."

Eric Henry, Bell City's smooth junior all-state forward, was held to seven points in the first half but was a force in the final period as he tallied nine of his game-high 21 points.

"We've kind of been a second-half team all year," said Heeb, "and I thought the kids did a real good job in the second half to just keep playing hard and eventually we wore them down."

Senior C.J. Hadley was the fourth Bell City Cub in double figures with 12 points.

For Scott City, sophomore swingman Andy Beck led the Rams with 16 points, while junior guard D.J. Walton added 14.

NO. 4 ORAN 75, NO. 15 LEOPOLD 38

Oran jumped out to a commanding 31-14 lead over Leopold (2-7) at the half and never looked back, outscoring the Wildcats 44-24 in the second half.

Junior Nathan Seyer led the Eagles with 17 points, while three others, also juniors, counted in double figures: Patrick Friga (14), Trey Graviett (13) and Joey Bickings (10).

Leopold was paced by junior Kevin Holzum with 14 points.

CHARLESTON 81, CHAFFEE 40

In the tourney opener, Charleston ran out to a first-quarter lead of 22-6 over Chaffee, but the Red Devils held their own in the second stanza as they outscored the Blue Jays 21-17 to go in at the half trailing by only 39-27.

But a 42-13 second-half Charleston advantage blew the game wide open.

Jordy Mixon, a powerful 5-11 inside banger for the Blue Jays, netted 26 points and senior forward Lezcano Dean chipped in with 20, including four treys.

Chaffee seniors Chase Eskew and Andrew Horrell scored 13 and 11 points, respectively.

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL 82

MEADOW HEIGHTS 78

Meadow Heights (6-3) gave Scott County Central a run for the money before succumbing in the final seconds.