Hawks gain final with OT victory

~ Kelly and Delta will play for the Scott-Mississippi Conference tourney title.

SCOTT CITY -- Kelly sophomore Kayla Cissell scored eight of her team-high 13 points in overtime to lead the Hawks girls basketball past Oran 58-48 on Thursday in the semifinals of the Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament.

The second-seeded Hawks (8-4) will play No. 1 Delta at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in the finals.

The Hawks shot 13-for-19 from the free throw line after halftime to secure the win. Senior Brittany Ponder hit two free throws late in regulation to give the Hawks a 46-44 lead, and Cissell hit four of six free throws in overtime.

"The girls have been coming in in the morning to shoot free throws," Kelly coach Rod McQuerter said. "It makes things go a whole lot easier when you make your free throws."

Kelly led 13-4 after one quarter, but things tightened up from there. The Hawks led 19-18 at halftime and led by three after three quarters. Kelly led again 46-44 with 40.4 seconds left when Erica Michelsen tied the game for Oran with a short jumper.

Oran, the third seed, had a chance to win the game in regulation but missed a jumper with a few seconds left on the clock.

In the overtime period, Kelly scored the first 10 points before Oran finally got on the board with less than a minute remaining. Freshman center Debra Hall added four points in overtime for the Hawks.

"Our defense, that's what we work on every day," McQuerter said. "Our goal is to put a lot of pressure on you and hopefully good things will happen."

Ponder added 12 points for the Hawks, all in the second half, and Hall finished with 10.

Tiffany Glastetter led Oran with 24 points, but fouled out less than a minute into overtime, leaving the Eagles with just four players available for the closing minutes of overtime.

Kelly 58, Oran 48, OT

Oran 4 14 10 18 2 -- 48

Kelly 13 6 12 15 12 -- 58

ORAN (48) -- Tiffany Glastetter 24, Erica Michelsen 8, Courtney Nenninger 6, Wendy Eftink 5, Jodi Urhahn 2, Alyson Seyer 3. FG 21, FT 4-8, F 14 (3-pointers: Seyer 1, Eftink 1. Fouled out: Glastetter, Eftink)

KELLY (58) -- Kayla Cissell 13, Brittany Ponder 12, Debra Hall 10, Sarah Ruff 5, Katee Moore 7, Nikki Weiny 2, Lauren Gean 4, Mindy Robert 3, Leigh Ann Buchheit 2. FG 22, FT 14-23, F 14 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

Delta 59, Scott County Central 38

Top-seeded Delta jumped to a 31-14 halftime lead and cruised to the finals of the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament.

Ashley Deprow led four double-figure scorers with 16 points for the Bobcats (11-1). Shea Smith scored 12, and Jodi Menz and Kayla Seabaugh had 10 apiece.

Delta is coming off a tournament title at its own Delta New Year's Tournament last week.

"We're glad to be in the conference tournament finals and have a shot at winning it," Delta coach Randy White said.

Brittney Peet kept the fourth-seeded Bravettes competitive with a game-high 26 points.

Delta 15 16 18 10 -- 59

SCC 7 7 11 13 -- 38

SCC (38) -- Brittney Peet 26, Amanda Lawless 9, Lakisha Turner 2, Sam Jones 1. FG 16, FT 6-12, F 19 (none, none)

DELTA (59) -- Ashley Deprow 16, Shea Smith 12, Jodi Menz 10, Kayla Seabaugh 10, Kaci Menz 7, Tiffany Amelunke 4. FG 21, FT 15-27, F 13 (3-pointers: Smith 1, K. Menz 1. Fouled out: none)