BRAVETTES ROLL TO 71-43 SECTIONAL WIN

Despite an easy win over Naylor Monday night, Scott County Central High girls basketball coach Semona Penrod was disappointed in her team's play.

But Penrod's disappointment turned to extreme satisfaction Wednesday night as the Bravettes rolled past Ste. Genevieve Valle 71-43 in a Class 1A sectional game.

The Bravettes (17-11) will play Norwood Saturday night at 6:30 in the state quarterfinals in Cabool.

A win Saturday would send the Bravettes into next weekend's Class 1A Final Four for the first time since the 1994-95 season, when they finished second in the state.

Valle, which had pulled off a string of upsets to get this far, ended the season with a 9-17 record.

"Against Naylor, I thought we took them lightly. We weren't mentally ready," said Penrod. "But tonight I thought we came ready to play. The girls got after it right from the start, played hard and did a really good job."

Sophomore Vontrice Blackmon led all scorers with 27 points.

"Coach wasn't happy with the way we played the other night," said Blackmon. "We played better tonight, but we can still play a lot better."

Ashley Whitson and Lekeya Turner both added 10 points for the Bravettes.

Valle's top scorer was Kim Armbruster with 13 points.

Not even a sudden change in venue and a one-hour delay could keep the Bravettes from coming out strong.

Just moments before the scheduled 6:30 tipoff at Peters Gymnasium, a fire in the concession area caused the gym to be evacuated and the game to be moved to the gym at Poplar Bluff's 5th-6th Grade Center. The contest finally got going around 7:30.

"I was worried we might lose our intensity having to change gyms like that, but if anything our intensity was even better," Penrod said.

Valle scored the game's first point, but that was the Lady Warriors' only lead of the night.

Scott Central led 20-13 after one quarter and 36-22 at halftime. The Bravettes then outscored Valle 20-4 in the third period to lead 56-26 heading into the final quarter.

Now that the Bravettes have cleared one major hurdle -- they were knocked out in the sectional round the past two seasons -- they will try to get past another big win Saturday night.

"We've been beaten in Poplar Bluff the last two years, so it was nice to get past this one, and it would be real nice to get back to Columbia again."