Cubs win Oran tourney

~ Niemczyk scores 32 points in Bell City's 75-72 victory.

ORAN -- Nick Niemczyk's hot shooting in the second quarter launched Bell City to a big lead.

It was his free throws in the final 16 seconds that iced the contest.

Niemczyk went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the final minute as Bell City held off a furious rally by Scott County Central in the championship game of the Oran boys basketball tournament Friday. The Cubs earned the 75-72 victory in front of an overflowing gym.

"I just tried to keep us in the game," he said. "I tried to do whatever I could."

Bell City's Nick Niemczyk took a shot over Scott County Central's Caleb Johnson during the first quarter of Friday's championship game of the Oran tournament. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

Niemczyk went 5-of-7 in the second quarter as the Cubs built a seven-point lead at halftime. He finished the half with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

"Whenever I'm hitting like that, my teammates usually know and they know to hit me," he said.

Bell City stretched its lead to 20 points, thanks in part to Marty Dames' work down low. He went 4-of-4 and added a free throw for nine points in the third quarter alone.

Scott County closed within 14 at the end of three quarters, but the 3-point shooting of Bell City's Melvin Johnson, who finished with 12 points all on 3s, pushed the lead back to 17 early in the fourth quarter.

"I just came out in the zone," Johnson said. "We needed to win."

That's when Scott County decided it had seen enough. The Braves went to work with pressure defense to create scoring chances. Scott County went on a 17-4 run to pull within four at 68-64 with just under 3 minutes to play.

"We just focused and did our thing," said Scott County's Randy Timmons, who scored 15 points in the second half. "We just had to control the ball."

The Braves started pressuring whoever Bell City used to bring the ball up the court. When it was Niemczyk, the Braves quickly ran two defenders at him. Niemczyk relied on senior Phillip Gross to help break Scott County's pressure.

"This is my first year doing it, so it was a little timid," Gross said. "But they told me to hold onto it and get down the court as fast as I could so we could get on offense."

Scott County closed to within a point at 71-70 with 51 seconds left in the game after Niemczyk turned the ball over trying to dribble between two Braves defenders. But Bell City coach Brian Brandtner said he can't get frustrated with one or two turnovers when Niemczyk is usually so careful.

"At that point in the game, we rely on Nick heavy," Brandtner said. "We just have to ride it out. We're going to dance with the date we brought. Some of those were good aggressive plays by them, and Scott County's going to do that."

And after Scott County cut Bell City's lead to one, it was Niemczyk who stepped up and hit the critical free throws to keep his team in the lead.

"He's got so much savvy," Brandtner said of Niemczyk. "He understands the game so well. He can use both hands so well. He kind of slows the game down. He can do it all. He can shoot, he can pass, he can dribble. A player like Nick makes guys like me good coaches."

Oran tournament

Championship

Bell City 75, Scott County Central 72

Bell City 14 20 27 14 -- 75

Scott County Central 16 11 20 25 -- 72

Bell City (75) -- Nick Niemczyk 32, Melvin Johnson 12, Phillip Gross 14, Marty Dames 11, Austin Bush 2, Brandon Bell 4. FG 29, FT 10-17, F 15 (3-pointers: Johnson 4, Niemczyk 2, Gross 1. Fouled out: none)

Scott County Central (72) -- D.D. Gillespie 15, Bobby Hatchett 14, Drew Thomas 12, Caleb Johnson 10, Randy Timmons 21. FG 29, FT 12-18, F 15 (3-pointers: Gillespie 1, Timmons 1. Fouled out: none)

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Consolation championship final

Malden 65, Oran 64

Malden 11 20 20 13 -- 64

Oran 11 18 18 16 -- 63

Malden (64) -- Marvin Fields 7, Chad Hudson 13, Dee Collier 6, Cody Collins 2, Nick Perkins 5, Andy Matthews 14, Leonard Burton 15, Michael Johnson 2. FG 29, FT 3-8, F 16 (3-pointers: Hudson 1, Perkins 1, Burton 1. Fouled out: none).

Oran (63) -- Cody W. Dirnberger 2, Kurt Rendleman 2, Cody Ramos 28, Tyler Beardslee 10, Kody Campbell 23, Jake Kluesner 1. FG 23, FT 13-25, F 15 (3-pointers: Ramos 3, Campbell 1. Fouled out: none)

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The all-tournament team

First team -- Dylan Stockton, Twin Rivers; Drew Thomas, Scott County Central; D.D. Gillespie, Scott County Central; Marty Dames, Bell City; Nick Niemczyk, Bell City.

Second team -- Jacob Bond, Advance; Kody Campbell, Oran; Leonard Burton, Malden; Aaron McCaig, Cooter; Phillip Gross, Bell City.