Christmas Tournament: Scott County Central starts slow before winning big over Woodland

Following a sluggish start, Scott Country Central got its transition game going early in the second quarter and raced to a 76-41 victory over Woodland in the opening round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Thursday at the Show Me Center.

With the score tied 12-12 late in the first period, fourth-seeded Scott County Central (6-5) went on a 14-0 run to open a 26-12 lead midway through the second quarter.

"They came out ready to play," SCC coach Frank Staple said of Woodland. "We were just a little sluggish. We started out slow but we picked it up a little bit."

The fourth-seeded Braves turned that 14-point lead into a 43-23 halftime advantage and pulled away in the second half.

Woodland coach Ryan Garnett liked how his team opened the game, but lamented the fact they couldn't sustain that intensity throughout the contest.

"We had a great first quarter," he said. "We actually had a game plan. But (SCC) maintained that intensity throughout the whole game -- they're great at doing that -- and we didn't."

Losing senior guard Aaron Yount on the Cardinals' first defensive possession didn't help. While going up for a rebound, Yount rolled his ankle when he came down on an SCC player's foot and had to have the ankle taped.

"It agitated me a bit," Yount said. "I just tried to play through it."

Sophomore guard Garrett Reynolds picked up the slack with an 18-point effort, but the Cardinals missed Yount's steady influence on the court.

"He's one of our main scorers," Reynolds said. "Having him go down hurt us a lot."

The second half turned into an SCC highlight reel as the Braves dominated with their vaunted fast break, which led to easy layups.

"Of course, SCC plays at a high level the entire game," Garnett said. "That's one of the things we've got to work on."

Woodland 12 11 13 5 41

Scott County Central 18 25 25 8 76

WOODLAND (41) -- Aaron Yount 4, Garret Reynolds 18, Garrett Faulkner 1, CJ McCallister 2, Ben McCormick 10, Dylan Miller 4, Devon Ritter 2. FG 16, FT 8-13, F 17. (3-pointers: Reynolds 1. Fouled out: None)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (76) -- Chris Brown 14, Larandis Banks 18, Jaylen Porter 16, Tyler Masters 5, Kendall Blissett 4, Jeffery Porter 9, Cameron Blissett 7. FG 29, FT 14-22, F 13. (3-pointers: Banks 3, C. Blissett 1. Fouled out: None)