ORAN EAGLES SOAR INTO 1A SECTIONALS

SIKESTON -- For the Cooter boys basketball team, it was something of a dream to win a district championship.

But the Wildcats' outing against Oran Monday night was more like a nightmare.

Oran, shaking off something of a slow start, routed Cooter 60-32 in a Class 1A regional game at the Sikeston High School Field House.

The Eagles, who improved their record to 22-8, advance to Wednesday's 1A sectional game against Naylor, a 61-58 winner over Viburnum Monday night. The sectional will tip off at 6:30 p.m. at Poplar Bluff High School.

Cooter, which upset its way to a district title last week after being seeded just sixth, ends the season at 11-15.

"This time of the year, if you win, it's great," said Oran coach Mitch Wood, also the school's baseball coach. He added with a laugh, "It's too cold for baseball anyway. We might as well keep winning."

Oran was able to accomplish that Monday night even though the Eagles fell behind by six points in the game's opening moments.

"We forced some stuff early, but we settled down," said Wood.

While Oran did not sizzle offensively much of the night, the Eagles were at the top of their game defensively.

"They just took us out of everything we tried to do," said an impressed Cooter coach Tim Harmon. "We hadn't seen any kind of defense like that before.

"We stayed in there early, but Oran is really a good team. I feel like they're the best team we've played this year."

As usual, the Eagles benefited from a balanced offensive attack that featured 16 points from Travis Friga, 15 from Chris Nichols, 10 from Ricky Eftink, eight from Jerod Hamm and seven from Daniel Wheeler.

"It seems like it's different people that lead us every night," Wood said. "I think that's one of the best things about us, our balance."

No player reached double figures for Cooter, which got nine points from both Blake Robinson and James Lynn.

Brandon Burton, a sophomore guard who had scored 36 points during Cooter's district title win, was harassed all game by Nichols and managed just four points.

"Chris did a tremendous job (on Burton)," said Wood.

Harmon agreed, saying, "The guy they had guarding my sophomore was unbelievable. He really got (Burton) frustrated."

After falling behind 9-3, Oran pulled to within 16-14 by the end of the first quarter.

Then Oran's defense really kicked in, limiting Cooter to only 16 points the rest of the way.

The Eagles outscored the Wildcats 19-6 in the second period to take a 33-22 halftime lead. It was 46-28 after three quarters and 57-28 in the final period when Wood cleared his bench.

Cooter trailed 60-28 and appeared headed for a fourth-quarter blanking before the Wildcats scored their only four points of the period in the last 30 seconds.