Round 1 goes to Braves

~ After their 76-71 victory against Bell City,the Braves are matched up with Maldenin tonight's final.

All of the hype surrounding Thursday's meeting between Bell City and Scott County Central at the Oran Inivtational boys basketball tournament led to a standing room only crowd and one heck of a game.

The upstart Braves flew out to a 10-point first-quarter lead, withstood six second-quarter lead changes and held on for a 76-71 semifinal victory.

Scott County will face No. 1 Malden at 8 p.m. tonight in the championship game.

Malden routed No. 4 Advance 71-47 in the other semifinal.

Bell City's Melvin Johnson, right, was fouled by Scott County Central's Mark Freed as he drove the lane during Thursday's, semifinal game at the Oran Invitational.

This was just the second meeting between Bell City and Scott County Central since Scott County coach David Heeb left Bell City for his alma mater.

Bell City routed the Braves in the Class 1 sectional round last year on its way to a state runner-up finish.

The regular-season game between the two teams last year was canceled before the season began. Both teams are scheduled to meet again in the Heartland Hoopfest on Dec. 16 at the Perry Park Center, and they could meet two more times after that, including the state playoffs.

The controversy around the two teams intensified last April when Heeb was suspended by the Missouri State High School Activities Association for undue influence. The MSHSAA investigation stemmed from a complaint filed by Bell City six months earlier. As part of the suspension, Heeb cannot coach the Braves during the second semester, including the playoffs.

Heeb, who has filed a lawsuit against the Bell City school district and the MSHSAA, turned the coaching reins over to legendary Scott County coach Ronnie Cookson for the entire season and has not been on the bench for Scott County's first two games.

For all of the extracurricular activities surrounding the rivalry between the Braves and Cubs, Thursday was all about the game.

Scott County's pressing style helped lead to a 23-13 first-quarter lead.

Bell City big man Will Bogan got things going for the Cubs in the second quarter, scoring Bell City's first 12 points in the period and helping narrow the gap to 26-25. A 3-pointer from Austin Segers gave Bell City a 28-26 lead less than 3 minutes into the second.

From there the teams exchanged leads until the Braves took control of the game with Bogan on the bench in foul trouble. Bogan picked up his third foul with 2:12 remaining in the half, and Scott County finished the half on an 8-2 run for a 45-37 lead.

Nick Niemczyk kept Bell City within striking distance in the third while Bogan sat for nearly the entire period. Niemczyk's 10 third-quarter points helped Bell City close the lead to 58-56 after three quarters.

Bogan could not stay on the floor in the fourth, though, as the 6-foot-10 center picked up his fourth foul 35 seconds after Bell City took a 61-60 lead. Scott County scored the next nine points for a 69-61 lead and did not let the lead go below four points the rest of the way.

Drew Thomas, playing in his first game of the season for the Braves, led Scott County with 21 points.

D.D. Gillespie finished with 20 points for the Braves, while Caleb Johnson had 16 and Richard Brownlee had 13.

Bogan finished with a game-high 29 points and added 17 rebounds. Niemczyk finished with 15 points.

In Advance's loss to Malden, Alex Steil had 11 points and Trenton Moses added 10.

In consolation play Thursday, No. 5 Kelly beat the eighth-seeded Advance junior varsity 60-26. Kelly will play No. 6 Oran in the consolation final tonight.

Scott County Central 76, Bell City 71

Scott Co. Cent. 23 22 13 18 -- 76

Bell City 13 24 19 15 -- 71

SCOTT COUNTY (76) -- D.D. Gillespie 20, Toby Heeb 4, Bobby Hatchett 2, Richard Brownlee 13, Caleb Johnson 16, Drew Thomas 21. FG 28, FT 19-39, F 19 (3-pointers: Heeb 1. Fouled out: Brownlee)

BELL CITY (71) -- Nick Niemczyk 15, Melvin Johnson 6, Phillip Gross 7, Austin Segers 8, Austin Bush 4, Will Bogan 29. FG 26, FT 14-26, F 27 (3-pointers: Johnson 1, Segers 2. Fouled out: none