Braves dominate the boards, Gideon in 81-32 shellacking

Scott County Central was not exactly a rebounding juggernaut last year, but the Braves took advantage of some injuries to dominate the boards in an 81-32 victory at Gideon on Friday night.

Gideon was without leading scorer Jordan Boone and had some other injuries as well.

Thanks to that, the Braves had a 30-8 rebounding edge in the first half as they opened a 55-14 lead.

"You've got to remember, they had two or three kids out," Scott County Central coach Ron Cookson said. "Maybe that's why we dominated. That Boone kid was out and then this other kid that was hurt. That [gave] us an opportunity to dominate the boards tonight."

Scott County Central put together a 31-1 run from late in the first period to halftime.

Junior guard D.D. Gillespie outscored Gideon with 17 points in the opening 16 minutes. He finished with 23 points for the game.

"He did a good job," Cookson said. "He played a good floor game."

Richard Brownlee added 18 points for the Braves. He dominated the boards, recording 10 rebounds in the first half.

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL 81, GIDEON 32

SCC 26 29 17 9 -- 81

Gideon 10 4 11 7 _ 32

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (81) -- Jarron Banks 1, D.D. Gillespie 23, Seth Strunk 6, Toby Heeb 9, Richard Brownlee 18, Mark Freed 2, Bobby Hatchett 7, Caleb Johnson 2, Avery Williams 4, Drew Thomas 9. FG 35, FT 5-12, F 11 (3-pointers: Gillespie 3, Heeb 2, Hatchett 1. Fouled out: none)

GIDEON (32) -- Clay 7, Cline 3, Foster 6, Horad 8, Miller 2, Johnson 2, Traspar 1, Miller 3. FG 14, FT 1-9, F 9 (3-pointers: Miller, Cline, Clay. Fouled out: none).

Clutch shooting

Advance's Rusty Hendricks was 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 3 minutes Friday night in the Hornets' 61-53 victory at Puxico.

Hendricks finished with 10 points, with all of them coming in the second half from the charity stripe, where he was perfect.

As a team, the Hornets were 15-for-19 from the line, while Puxico finished 6-for-17 on free throws.

Alex Steil led Advance with 20 points, bouncing back from a poor outing in Tuesday's loss to Bell City.

Steil scored 18 in the first two periods -- scoring nine straight points for Advance in one stretch -- as the Hornets (3-2) took a 38-31 lead.

Puxico lost for the first time after five wins.

ADVANCE 61, PUXICO 53

Advance 19 19 14 9 -- 63

Puxico 9 22 13 9 -- 53

ADVANCE (61) -- Middleton 2, Hendricks 10, Baker 9, Wade 2, Steil 20, Bond 8, Mitchell 2, Moses 8. FG 22, FT 15-19 (3-pointers: Steil 2).

PUXICO (53) -- Hon 10, Adams 11, Smith 8, Allison 5, Clark 10, Crain 9. Totals: FG 22, FT 6-17 (3-pointers: Hon 2, Allison 1).

Revenge for Cubs

Bell City crushed Advance 67-34 on Tuesday to avenge a loss in the third-place game at the season-opening Oran Invitational.

The Cubs opened a 14-4 lead in the first period.

"When you jump on a team like that, the momentum gets going, and we just kind of rolled with it," Bell City coach Brian Brandtner said. "Advance is a lot better than they showed tonight, but we had some lucky breaks early and it worked out for us."

Melvin Johnson scored 18 points for Cubs, hitting three 3-pointers in the second period. Will Bogan added 18 points.

"Our defensive intensity was a lot better than it was the first time we played them," Brandtner said. "I thought our overall energy was a lot better.

"If Melvin contributes the way he did tonight offensively, we are going to be tough to beat," he added. "But I was even more impressed with Melvin's defensive intensity and the way he was fighting for rebounds and loose balls."

Advance was just 11-for-26 from the charity stripe in this game, when they had trouble making anything.

"A little bit of humility goes a long way," Advance coach Joe Shoemaker said.

Despite the blowout victory, Brandtner was quick to point out that the Cubs, who finished second in Class 1 last year but opened with losses in three of their first five games, can't allow themselves to rest on their laurels.

"We played a heck of a game tonight, but this is only one game and we're going to have to keep building on it," he said. Shooting touch

In Jackson's 62-36 win against Poplar Bluff last week at the SEMO Conference Tournament, 6-foot-6 post player Spencer Grantham made the Mules pay from the free throw line.

He was 9-for-9 on his way to a game-high 17 points, while Jackson as a team was 22-for-25.