Meadow Heights girls, Scott City girls, Scott County Central boys approach quarterfinal basketball games

Meadow Heights girls basketball coach Mitch Nanney didn't care about getting another shot at Couch.

"We're glad to play anybody," Nanney said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing. We're in the quarterfinals. We'll play anybody."

Nanney's Panthers will face Couch in a Class 2 state quarterfinal for the second time in three years. Couch defeated Meadow Heights 54-24 in 2009.

"We know what we can do to attack them," Nanney said. "We're very confident in what we can do. We feel we can go out and take control of this basketball game."

Couch was ranked No. 3 and Meadow Heights No. 4 in the final regular-season state poll. The Indians (24-3) defeated Senath-Hornersville 61-45 in Wednesday's sectional. Couch and Meadow Heights (25-3) will play at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at Dexter's Bearcat Event Center with a trip to the final four on the line.

Scott City's Stacey Heisserer shoots over Crystal City's Chelsea Thurman during Wednesday's Class 3 sectional game at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo. Scott City won 53-44 to advance to the Class 3 quarterfinals for the first time since 1996. (Kristin Eberts)

Nanney said he and assistant coach Mark Verticchio watched Couch play last week and already have developed a plan to attack the Indians.

"We were expecting to see them," Nanney said. "They play kind of a diagonal 1-3-1 you almost could call it. They sink it back really deep and it's almost diagonal from the strong side to the weak side. It's kind of an odd shape to it. We know what we're going to attack it with. The kids will believe in what we're going to do and we're going to be able to take care of business with it on Saturday."

This will be the third time the Panthers have reached the state quarterfinal round in the program's six-year history. Junior Erin Bollmann said she's confident the Panthers worked out their nervousness during Wednesday's sectional win over St. Vincent.

"We know that if we're nervous, we're not going to win the game," Bollmann said. "If we aren't nervous and we get our heads in the game, then we'll finally get to state."

Class 1 quarterfinal

Scott City's Stacey Heisserer takes a shot over Crystal City's Chelsea Thurman during the first quarter of a MSHSAA Class 3 sectional game at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo., on Wednesday, March 9, 2011. (Kristin Eberts)

The Scott County Central Braves will try to earn their fourth consecutive trip to the Class 1 final four when they battle Chadwick in a 1 p.m. quarterfinal Saturday at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Braves coach Kenyon Wright said Chadwick (20-6) presents a difficult challenge.

"Chadwick has one real good player who had a triple double the other night, Seth Thomas," Wright said.

Wright, who has a tendency to downplay his team's ability while heaping praise on the opposition, features the state's top-ranked team in Class 1. The Braves' closest score in the postseason so far was a 67-30 victory over Oak Ridge in the Class 1 District 2 title game. SCC blew out Risco in Tuesday's sectional round, rolling to a 108-41 victory.

The Braves (26-2) topped 100 points for the second time in three games Tuesday, and that came with their best player, Otto Porter, on the mend.

Scott County Central's Stewart Johnson shoots during the Braves' 108-41 rout of Risco in Tuesday's Class 1 sectional game in Dexter, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

Senior guard Stewart Johnson led the Braves with 27 points against Risco. He said the formula for continued success is simple.

"Keep up the aggressive play and get Bubba [Porter] back well," Johnson said. "Get him some meds."

Class 3 quarterfinal

Volleyball was supposed to be Scott City's best chance to reach the final four in a girls sport this year.

So much for that theory.

The Rams volleyball team got upset by St. Vincent in the Class 2 District 2 title match, but the Rams girls basketball team earned its first sectional victory since 1996 with its 53-44 win over Crystal City on Wednesday.

"I'm really proud of them," Scott City coach Ricky Keller said after Wednesday's game. "They did a great job. That's [1996] a long time."

Scott City will face Kennett (28-2) in Saturday's 2:45 p.m. quarterfinal at Poplar Bluff High School.

"We are down to eight teams," Kennett coach Spencer Hoffman told the Daily Dunklin Democrat on Wednesday. "There are no cupcakes left."

Scott City (23-6) never has reached the final four in girls basketball.