Meadow Heights advances with a late surge

Oak Ridge hung around long enough to give a scare to Mississippi Valley Conference rival Meadow Heights in the seMissourian Christmas Tournament consolation quarterfinals Friday morning.

And if it wasn't for Joey Bell's big performance in the fourth quarter, 15th-seeded Oak Ridge (0-7) may have completed the upset of 10th-seeded Meadow Heights. Instead, the Panthers (6-2) held on and won 60-48.

Bell's 18 fourth-quarter points put the game in the books and advanced Meadow Heights into today's consolation semifinal.

Chris Burr got off to a hot start, scoring six consecutive points to put the Panthers up 19-10 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Oak Ridge could never mount a charge, due in part to 3-of-11 free-throw shooting.

"Free throws haven't really been our thing this year," Oak Ridge coach Paul Lynch said.

But the Bluejays' defense stood firm and held Meadow Heights to four points in the first seven minutes of the second quarter. Meadow Heights converted four free throws in the last minute of the half to keep Oak Ridge from making a big run and kept Meadow Heights' lead at 27-20 at halftime.

"Sometimes we don't play as a team and that's when we have those streaks of no scoring," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said.

Meadow Heights came out hot for a 4-0 run in the first 40 seconds of the half to take an 11-point lead that would grow to 13, but it didn't last long. The Panthers' turnovers helped lead to a basket by Austin Hahs that cut the Meadow Heights lead to three going into the fourth.

Enter Bell. After he scored only six points through the first three quarters, Bell took over in the fourth. Bell scored twice and Burr added a 3-pointer to push the lead to seven.

He finished with 24 points. Burr added 13.

Austin Morrison led Oak Ridge with 16 points. Alex Fadler had 11.

-- David Unterreiner

Woodland 74, Delta 52

If Delta played on a high against Jackson a day earlier, the Bobcats fell to the opposite end of the intensity spectrum against Woodland.

The 14th-seeded Bobcats (1-7) played Jackson close for three quarters in Thursday's first round, then stumbled against 11th-seeded Woodland (4-5) in a loss Friday.

"This is fairly typical of how we play in a tournament," Delta coach Robert Stein said. "We have a great game and play tough then we don't show up the next game."

Woodland, meanwhile, seemed to break out after an opening-round loss to Bell City. Senior Luke Johnson and sophomore Cody McCraw led the way for the Cardinals.

"I saw things we've been looking for all year," Woodland coach Ted Hahn said. "We've been looking for that kind of senior leadership."

Johnson and McCraw each scored 22 points.

"That's the kind of production we have to have. Luke is a machine -- once he gets started he's hard to stop. And we tell Cody he's not a sophomore anymore, he's a junior," Hahn said.

Johnson had seven points in the first quarter and McCraw had 14 in the first half, including 10 in the second quarter. By halftime, Woodland already had a 32-18 lead.

In the third quarter it remained Woodland's game. The Cardinals turned on a full-court press midway through the third and slowed Delta's scoring.

"We have an advantage when we run with Delta, but we couldn't do that with Bell City," Hahn said.

Delta senior Joey Keys finished with 14 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. VanGennip finished with 17 points. -- David Wilson

Scott County Central 68, Leopold 33

For 32 minutes Friday, Scott Central showed flashes of its future and its potential. The Braves (4-4) played with intensity and speed in a win over Leopold, a contrast to Thursday's 64-59 loss to No. 5 Oran.

"I told them they had to play with intensity," Braves coach Melvin Porter said. "When you play with intensity it makes the other team do things they don't want to do."

Leopold (1-8) committed 18 turnovers that led to a basket for the Braves nearly every time. A big factor in the defensive pressure was freshman Josh Chamberlan, brought up from the junior varsity this week.

"He understands what a point guard is supposed to do and that's going to be the difference from now on," Porter said.

Another difference for the Braves was the play of senior guard Dujuan Watkins. Watkins held a clinic at the Show Me Center, scoring 18 first-half points as part of the Braves' 32-17 halftime lead after a personal challenge by Porter.

"I told him he hasn't shown any leadership, and if he isn't going to show any I'm not going to waste my time," Porter said.

Watkins said he got the message loud and clear.

"Coach Porter basically told me I had a point to prove, and today I proved it," Watkins said.

Watkins finished with 24 points and had 10 rebounds, along with two blocks and a steal.

But the Braves' game wasn't a one-man show. Chris Pullen, a 6-foot-4 junior, scored 15 points and sparkled on defense. He had five rebounds, four blocks and two steals.

It was all too much for Leopold to overcome.

"We played hard but we didn't play very good," Thoma said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

-- David Wilson

Advance 66, Chaffee 39

Jim Hall got his 500th win and Advance rolled into today's consolation semifinal with a win over 16th-seeded Chaffee.

Advance (4-3) took an early lead and never looked back. A 3-pointer by Jason Bahr opened scoring and two more by Jared Ritter helped build the Hornets' lead to 21-12 after the first quarter.

"We wanted to come out and play better today," Hall said. "It feels good to move on and be able to play tomorrow."

The Red Devils (0-5) couldn't help themselves in the second and committed 13 fouls in the half. Starting center Brent Thomason ran into foul trouble and had to leave the game with four first half fouls. Advance had the halftime lead, 36-23.

"We really wanted to win this one for coach," senior Eric O'Hare said.

The game never got better after the half for Chaffee as Advance continued to play strong and converted the first six points of the half.

A free throw by Devan Long at the end of the third doubled the lead. Chaffee was 0-of-9 from the field in the third and only put two points on the board.

Ritter finished with 17 points and Bahr had 14 for Advance. James Reischman's 16 points led Chaffee.

-- David Unterreiner