KELLY RALLIES TO CAPTURE TOURNEY TITLE

SCOTT CITY -- If the horde of cars outside wasn't enough, a peek into Scott City High's gymnasium told the story of the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament championship game.

"Standing-room only, huh?" noted one observer.

Replied another: "Not much standing-room, either."

And that was well before "the matchup Southeast Missouri has been waiting for," as the public address announcer put it, began.

After Kelly, the second seed, had never led through three quarters, a capacity crowd Saturday night saw the Hawks stun the top-seeded Rams with an 18-0 run early in the fourth period and pull away for an 86-66 win.

"I've never seen a bunch of kids step up like this bunch did tonight," said Kelly coach Kent Mangels. "Boy, this is just so sweet, so sweet for us. It's one of the sweetest things that I've ever been associated with in high school basketball."

Tim Lowery scored 11 of his team-high 28 points and Scott City (16-2) held a 27-18 first-quarter lead. The Rams' advantage was 42-35 at halftime, and 53-50 after three quarters. Scott City committed just three turnovers in the first three quarters and five for the game.

With Scott City, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A, leading 55-53 35 seconds into the fourth quarter, Kelly (16-2) exploded, scoring on its next 12 possessions and making 14 successive shots from the field, while the Rams missed seven straight. By the 3:05 mark, Kelly led 71-55.

In all, Kelly made 11 of 12 field goals in the fourth quarter; Scott City just 5 of 21. During the 18-0 run, Denver Stuckey scored eight of his team-high 28 points, and six different Hawks scored.

Also, Kelly stepped up its defense and rebounding.

"In the first half we weren't getting out and guarding, and we weren't boxing out and they were getting second shots," Mangels said. "I thought our kids stepped up hard (in the second half) and did a great job rebounding. That was the difference right there. I thought that our second-half defense was outstanding and our kids that came off the bench did a great job."

Scott City's Jon Beck, who averages 24 points, was limited to just two in the fourth quarter and 15 for the game. For Kelly, which committed just seven turnovers, Michael Riley finished with 10 points.

"We knew it was going to be tough; it's a tough place to play," Mangels said. "Our kids just kept hanging in there and they wouldn't quit."

A 3-pointer by Stuckey with 2:32 left in the first quarter brought Kelly within a point, 15-14. The Rams pulled away late in the period, and a 3-pointer by Beck, his only shot in the quarter, gave Scott City a nine-point lead through one quarter.

The Rams' lead ranged from two to eight points in the second quarter and was seven points, 42-35, at halftime.

Kelly tied the game for the first time since the opening seconds on a basket by Riley, 45-45, midway through the third quarter. After Scott City opened another lead, a 3-point play by Kelly's Nathan Dirnberger with 10 seconds left in the period made the score 53-50 entering the fourth quarter.