Portageville erased big deficit, steals thriller from Scott County Central

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. — Trailing 18 points in the third quarter, Portageville staged a stunning comeback to defeat Scott County Central.

Despite facing a seemingly insurmountable disadvantage, the Bulldogs (7-4) remained composed, exhibiting disciplined defense and capitalizing on offensive opportunities to engineer a 64-60 comeback win over the Braves (7-5) on Thursday, Jan. 4.

“We were undermanned today,” said Portageville coach TJ Smith. “But the guys we had played their tails off. We had to find a groove on how we were going to score. Once we settled in we could grind it out and make a pretty good comeback. The boys got after it defensively forcing some turnovers and bad shots. We were able to capitalize and score on the other end. Got some great energy off the bench out of Tim Hamilton. He helped bring a spark defensively that led to easy baskets the other way. Overall proud of how we played together and overcame a little adversity tonight.”

The Bulldogs’ offensive attack revolved around Layden Kellum’s sizzling 31-point performance, which countered Namarius Banks-Warren’s valiant 29-point effort for the Braves.

Scott County Central returns to action at home against Oak Ridge (4-3) on Friday, Jan. 5, while Portageville travels to Campbell (7-4) on Monday, Jan. 8.

__PORTAGEVILLE 64, SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL 60__

SCC 8 23 13 16 — 60

P’Ville 11 10 20 23 — 64

Scott County Central (60) — Namarius Banks-Warren 29, Cortavian Banks 10, Courtney Sanders III 8, Ty Murray 6, Asher Britt 4, Zavior Mize 1. FG: 26. FT: 3-9. F: 14. (3-pointers: Sanders III 2, Banks 1. Fouled out: None).

Portageville (64) — Layden Kellum 31, Connor Jeffries 11, Mason Adams 8, Xayvion Bogan 8, Brandon West 6. FG: 26. FT: 9-14. F: 12. (3-pointers: Bogan 1, Kellum 1, West 1. Fouled out: None).