Braves' lucky No. 13

COLUMBIA -- Bobby Hatchett was all alone. Surrounded on all sides by four Newtown-Harris Tigers, the Scott County Central junior was running out of court as he backpedaled inside the lane at Mizzou Arena on Saturday.

Hatchett's eyes darted from one player to another as Newtown-Harris players passed the ball around, looking for an easy basket in what had been a difficult game for them up to that point in the third quarter of the Class 1 state championship game.

Not one to panic on the basketball court, Hatchett saw his opening and burst forward, slapping the ball away as it traveled the short distance between Newtown-Harris teammates.

The race to the other end was on, and when it was over, the ball was back in Hatchett's hands for a layup.

The turnover was one of 32 forced by Scott County on Saturday. It wasn't the first or the most important. It was simply the most visually pleasing display of the Braves' defensive dominance in a 98-63 victory.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comBraves senior Drew Thomas dunks Saturday during the Class 1 state championship at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Thomas finished with 29 points.

State championships aren't supposed to be that easy to win.

"Newtown-Harris, they had a good ballclub," Scott County coach Ronnie Cookson said. "I think we played them right on. Our defense, on pressing, I think it bothered them quite a bit. We played some real good defense tonight that we didn't play quite as well before."

There was something the legendary Cookson, who still was wearing the gold medal of his 13th state championship title around his neck during the news conference, was driving at with this statement and many others he made.

His tone, ever friendly away from the sideline, was somehow different. You could hear the satisfaction.

"Defense is one thing a lot of people don't notice," he said later, answering a question that hadn't been asked. "We put the defense on them. I mean really did. I really feel like the kids came out there and played them exactly how they needed to play them, and I thought we put some defense on them."

Scott County Central senior Drew Thomas holds up the Class 1 state championship trophy toward his team's fans Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

Cookson and his team had heard what Newtown-Harris coach Tim Cool said after the Tigers' semifinal victory. Cool said his team didn't see a lot of pressure defenses like the one employed by the Braves. It carved them up. His team's guard play was too good. It shot layups.

"Yeah, that was our motivation really," Hatchett said.

He volunteered the answer quickly, accompanied by a rare smile that he tried to hide in his folded arms on the table in front of him.

"That was a little motivation speech before the game," Cookson said, his source of satisfaction revealed. "These guys can do so many different things to so many different people. They can do one team one way and do the other team the other way. ... So what coach Cool's probably seen isn't what was out there tonight."

Newtown-Harris handled the pressure for four minutes or so, even leading the Braves 9-8 at one point. But Scott County outscored Newtown-Harris 26-5 the rest of the first quarter and shot nearly 80 percent in the period.

Braves senior Ja'Quan Cowley shows off his championship medal to fans Saturday.

The lead was 29 by halftime. The Braves already had forced 20 turnovers and made 13 steals.

Cool did his best to explain what happened to his team.

"That team is unbelievable," said Cool, who added that he thought the Braves probably could beat any high school team in Missouri and even some junior college teams. "That team is absolutely a completely different animal than we've ever seen. I mean they are unbelievable. The athletic ability they have, the skill level that they play at, just amazing. Amazing."

He wasn't done.

"They go from defense to offense faster than I've ever seen a team go," he said. "They're tipping passes, stealing the ball and they're at the other end in a blink -- just flying down there trying to get layups."

When the formality of the second half was over, the Braves had shot 57 percent from the field, scored the most points ever in a championship game, broken the record for most points scored in one half in any Show-Me Showdown game with 64 in the first half and added to their record number of state titles.

It was a performance that even the hard-to-impress Cookson could compliment.

"They've played great all year. Really, I can't say," he said before pausing as he collected his thoughts.

"Y'all know what I've said before in the past," he continued, perhaps talking about his game-after-game insistence that his team could and should play better. "They play hard, they really work hard and that's what it takes to get here is a lot of hard work. They work hard."

But they sure made it look easy.