Oran boys basketball team eases into district final

BELL CITY, Mo. -- The top-seeded Oran boys basketball team cruised into the championship of the Class 1 District 2 tournament Tuesday with a 71-42 win over the No. 5 Richland Rebels at Bell City High School.

The Eagles and No. 2 Advance will square off for the district crown for the fifth consecutive season. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

"We're back to where we wanted to get at the beginning of the year," said Oran coach Joe Shoemaker, whose team lost to Advance in last year's district title game. "I hope we have better results and take care of business this time."

After Marcus Grayson knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner to give Richland a 3-0 lead on its opening possession, Oran (19-8) closed the first quarter on a 20-3 run to take a comfortable 14-point lead into the second quarter.

Shoemaker said his team was focused on establishing offense in transition.

"We knew they weren't extremely deep. ... They've come a long way this year, and they're playing some underclassmen," Shoemaker said. "We wanted to get out and try to score quick and make that basket a little bit bigger on the jump shots if we could get a couple layups."

The Eagles were led by a game-high 22 points from Hunter Schlosser, while three other players reached double figures. Thomas Trankler added 14 points, Jacob Priggel contributed 12 points and Jason Bennett finished with 10 points for Oran.

"We have different guys that can step up on different nights," Shoemaker said. "We'd like to have four, five or six guys in double figures. That would be awesome if we could get six in double figures every night."

The Eagles carried a 42-22 lead into halftime.

Oran's Jacob Priggel drives to the basket against Richland's Devin Stoker during the first quarter of a semifinal in the Class 1 District 2 tournament Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 in Bell City, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

Richland (5-15) was led by 17 points from Grayson. Josh Thornton had 11 points for the Rebels.

Oran turned the ball over 13 times in the game. Shoemaker said securing the basketball will be a point of emphasis for Thursday's game.

"We were a little sloppy with the basketball tonight," Shoemaker said. "We know that defensive rebounding and taking care of the basketball wins championships. That's something we try to strive at every day, something we'll have to improve. ... If we play that sloppy, I don't know if we'll have a good outcome Thursday night."

Richland 6 16 13 7 -- 42

Oran 20 22 11 18 -- 71

RICHLAND (42) -- Marcus Grayson 17, Josh Thornton 11, Skyler Harper 7, Preston Tilley 3, Brandon Partenberry 2 Garet Phillips 2. FG 16, FT 6-15, F 11. (3-pointers: Grayson 3, Tilley 1. Fouled out: None.)

ORAN (71) -- Hunter Schlosser 22, Thomas Trankler 14, Jacob Priggel 12, Jason Bennett 10, Layne Johnson 5, Max Priggel 4, Eric Westrich 2. FG 27, FT 12-15, F 14. (3-pointers: J. Priggel 2, Johnson 1. Fouled out: None.)