Rams, Bobcats win consolation semis

Scott City and Delta will face off for the consolation championship in the final round of the University High School Christmas Tournament today.

Scott City, the 12th seed, knocked off Scott County rival and 16th seed Chaffee 61-39 while No. 14 Delta eliminated No. 10 Woodland in a mild upset 56-45 during consolation semifinal games at the Show Me Center Friday.

Delta (4-7) and Scott City (3-6) will meet at 4 p.m. for the consolation title, which was claimed by Chaffee last year.

Robert Stein, an assistant at Scott City before taking the reins at Delta, coached most of the current Ram players and anticipates a competitive contest.

"They're young, but their record is deceptive," said Stein. "They're better than the record indicates."

SCOTT CITY 61, CHAFFEE 39

The Rams continued their dominance over neighboring Chaffee with a strong second half after being down 23-21 at the break.

"Chaffee put it to us early," said Scott City coach Kerry Thompson. "They came out with a little pressure and we weren't running our offense at all and we weren't establishing our inside game."

Scott City, with a huge height advantage, took it to the shorter Red Devils in the second half.

What the young Rams lack in experience, they offset with height as four of Scott City's key players range from 6-2 to 6-6, while Chaffee has only one player on the entire roster over 6-foot.

"Their size kind of frightened us a little bit," said Chaffee coach David Mirly.

But in the first half, Chaffee (2-6) seemed undaunted by its taller opponent, as its pressure defense and aggressive offensive tactics paid off.

The second half, however, was a complete turnaround as the Rams pounded the ball inside and hammered the Red Devils 40-16.

Chaffee seemed content to bomb away from the outside, but the shots weren't falling.

"We got away from taking the ball inside and just settled for jump shots," said Mirly. "We needed to take it up strong inside and if they block it, they block it; but we've got to take it inside to try to draw some fouls, and that really hurt us."

D.J. Walton paced the Scott City offense with 18 points while Tyler Ward added 12.

Andrew Horrell was the only Red Devil in double figures with 14.

DELTA 56, WOODLAND 45

A poor fourth-quarter performance by Woodland helped Delta avenge an earlier 82-80 loss to the Cardinals.

Trailing 46-42 at the end of the third quarter, Woodland (7-5) could manage but three points in the final period.

"We couldn't come up with an offensive rebound when we needed it and we didn't make a shot when we needed it," said Woodland coach Jennings Wilkinson.

Delta, on the other hand, took care of the basketball, ran time off the clock effectively and capitalized on its free-throw opportunities, hitting six of six in the fourth quarter.

"Late in the game, we were patient," said Stein. "That's the first time we've been that patient with the ball."

Ten first-quarter points by senior sharpshooter Craig Bock helped stake Delta to a 15-11 first-quarter lead. Bock finished with a game-high 22 points, including four from beyond the arc.

The Bobcats stretched their advantage to 35-27 at the intermission, before Woodland put together a third-quarter rally to narrow the gap to four points.

Joey Keys contributed 15 points for Delta and point guard Lance Kinder added 12.

Michael Owens topped the Cardinals with 14.