Braves win Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament

~ Scott County Central defeated Scott City in the championship game of the Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament.

DELTA -- Scott County Central sophomore Bobby Hatchett admitted he was not feeling real strong during the final minute and a half of Friday's game against Scott City.

"I was tired," he said. "Heck yeah."

Still Hatchett showed no signs of fatigue. Nor did his teammates.

Hatchett forced a steal when the game was knotted 59-59 with 1 minute, 9 seconds left in the contest. He then went in for a layup, got fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws to put his team ahead 60-59.

Scott County Central's Caleb Johnson drove against Scott City's Caleb Estes during the championship game of the Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament Friday at Delta High School. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

From there, the Braves would never look back.

They used their full-court pressure to force 16 Rams turnovers and to overcome a 15-point deficit at halftime to win 68-59 in the Scott-Mississippi Conference boys basketball title game at Delta High School.

"It felt real good," Hatchett said of his steal. "We got in their passing lanes and stuff, and we did what we had to do. We got the steal.

"We didn't want to lose. We looked at the scoreboard and we didn't want to lose. We said we were going to come home with a 'W,' and that's what we did."

Drew Thomas led Scott County with 20 points, and collected eight rebounds. Caleb Johnson added 15 points, including 13 in the second-half comeback.

The two teams faced off earlier this season in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament's fifth-place game. The Braves won that contest by 34 points, despite playing without Johnson, who had a sprained ankle, and Thomas, who missed the team bus.

Thomas said his team overlooked the Rams in the first half Friday.

"We were overconfident," he said. "We thought we were going to beat them by 50. Basically, it was a wake-up call for us. It ain't going to happen no more."

The Rams jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first 3:11 of the contest. During that time, Alex King netted the first three baskets and Jay Simmons sunk a 3-pointer from way behind the line.

The Rams led 15-7 after the first quarter.

"We felt good," King said of the first quarter "It was awesome. We knew they were going to make a run at the end, and we just needed to take care of that. But I guess we couldn't."

Simmons had a strong second quarter to build the Rams' lead to 15 at halftime, 32-17. Simmons poured in 11 points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers.

"As one of the next biggest players, I think it was my fault we were down because I was not rebounding enough," Thomas said. "So basically I put it on me for the hole we dug."

The Rams were unable to hold on in the second half. The Braves outscored the Rams 22-13 in the third quarter with many points coming off turnovers.

"They've got great pressure," Simmons said. "They go 100 mph all the time. If you're not in shape, then you won't be able to keep up with them."

Hatchett said he and his teammates did nothing differently in the second half. They just turned up their defense a notch.

"We turned it up when we looked at the scoreboard and we saw we were down," he said. "Coach was telling us if we keep it up, we could get some steals and score more.

"That's the reason we win. That the whole point of our game -- the defensive pressure. If we ain't doing that, we probably aren't going to win."

Scott County outscored Scott City 29-14 in the final period to come away with the nine-point win.

Scott City 15 17 13 14 -- 59

Scott County 7 10 22 29 -- 68

Scott City (59) -- John Pinkston 3, Jay Simmons 22, Shae Simmons 6, Caleb Estes 3, Cody Page 5, Alex King 20. FG 22, FT 6-11, F 15 (3-pointers: J. Simmons 5, S. Simmons 2. Fouled out: none)

Scott County Central (68) -- D.D Gillespie 9, Bobby Hatchett 12, Desmin Williams 2, Caleb Johnson 15, Drew Thomas 20, Randy Timmons 10. FG 29, FT 9?14, F 19 (3-pointers: Hatchett 1. Fouled out: none)