BRAVES SHOW HAWKS THEY'RE MORE THAN ONE-MAN SHOW

BENTON -- Scott County Central's Jreece Johnson got into foul trouble and sat out huge chunks during the third and fourth quarter.

The region's leading scorer was held 11 points below his season average and Kelly turned the ball over just 10 times in the game.

All the ingredients were there for a Hawk victory, but it was the Braves who ended up tasting the victory pudding.

Scott Central (8-4) thrived while its scoring star was on the bench and the Braves fended off several runs by Kelly (7-6), picking up its second straight win, 73-56, at Kelly High School Tuesday night.

With 6:42 remaining in the game and the Braves holding a shaky 52-46 lead, Johnson -- who averages 31 points per game -- picked up his fourth foul of the game. He sat for about three minutes and his team didn't miss a beat.

"We've got some kids who can step in and play well together," said Scott Central coach Steve Wells. "We put in different combinations in practice in case something like that would happen."

Johnson, who broke a University High Christmas Tournament record with 49 points against Kelly just a few weeks ago, returned with a little more than three minutes remaining, but didn't score any of his team's final 12 points. Instead, he distributed the ball to open teammates.

Scott Central finished the game with a 16-3 run.

For Kelly, it was deja vu.

The Hawks experienced a similar fate last Friday night when they held a late lead, only to see the Notre Dame finish the game on a 14-0 run.

"It's just the little things," said Kelly coach Kent Mangels. "We didn't do a good job of rebounding and had a couple of turnovers. We need to play four solid quarters of basketball."

Unlike Kelly's game last Friday night, Mangels was not pleased with his team's mental approach on Tuesday.

"We just didn't come out focused tonight," he said. "I thought we'd come out with more intensity (after Johnson's 49-point game). We came out so flat and I don't have any answers why. We're not being aggressive on our block outs and everything we get offensively we have to work so hard to get because we're not setting good screens."

Scott Central was led in scoring by Todd Blissett, who scored 21 points. Johnson had 20. When the Braves pulled away late, it was Blissett, Terrance Williams and Chris Johnson who came up big. Williams ended up with 14 points, including six in the fourth quarter. Blissett scored seven points in the final eight minutes and Chris Johnson scored six of his eight points in the fourth.

For Kelly, point guard Jamie Essner paved the way with 20 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. Michael Romas poured in 18.

Scott Central led 12-8 after the first quarter and 30-23 heading into halftime.

Kelly sliced its deficit to four points late in the third quarter and again with 5:06 left in the game.

The most crucial possession came with 3:09 left in the game when Jreece Johnson scored and was fouled to give the Braves a 59-52 lead. Scott Central got an offensive rebound on the free throw and Williams scored to give his team a 9-point lead with 2:36 to go.

The final score was the largest margin of the game.