SCC gets even with Sikeston

Bobby Hatchett jumped on Otto Porter's back and went for a piggyback ride after Scott County Central's victory Wednesday at the Show Me Center.

A gigantic smile graced Hatchett's face as he rode on Porter's back minutes after the Braves earned revenge against Sikeston in front of a spirited crowd.

The entire Braves team rode on Porter's back during a rematch of last year's game between the two schools.

Porter delivered another standout performance on both ends of the court as the Braves downed the Bulldogs 70-51 in front of 4,428 fans.

"We just wanted to get the ball out and go as fast as we could," Porter said. "We knew once we slowed down, they were going to set up and pressure us, so we just tried to get the rebound and get down the court."

Scott County Central's Otto Porter takes a shot over Sikeston's Corey Porter, left, and Jaqualin Wiggins during the third quarter Wednesday at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

Sikeston edged Scott County 86-85 at a sold-out Show Me Center last year.

Porter scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 17 rebounds Wednesday, but he offered an interesting perspective on his role in the contest.

"Basically, I was used as a decoy and that left the back open a lot more," he said. "It worked."

Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield wasn't buying the decoy talk.

"I thought he was pretty darn good," Holifield said.

Sikeston's Eli Jackson has his shot deflected by Scott County Central's Otto Porter and Trey Johnson during the fourth quarter Wednesday at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

Porter did make more passes than usual to open teammates, especially Dominique Porter and Trey Johnson, who combined for 29 points. But Otto Porter still cleaned up plenty of missed shots to fuel the Braves' offense. He went 12 of 16 (75 percent) from the field.

"We just wanted to get it inside as much as we could," he said.

While Porter was busy scoring, the Braves' defense forced the Bulldogs to settle for outside shots. Will Holifield sparked the Bulldogs' offense early by hitting 4 of his 6 3-pointers in the first quarter, but Sikeston cooled down from long range after that. The Bulldogs shot 9 of 26 (35 percent) from 3-point range in the game, but only 28 percent (5 of 18) after the first quarter.

"That was the only way they were going to have to beat us," Braves senior Bobby Hatchet said of Sikeston's 3-point shooting. "They were going to have to hit that 3 all night. If they would have hit the 3 all night, it would have been a game all night."

Sikeston, which is ranked No. 2 in Class 4, led by as many as four points in the first quarter but never regained the lead after the opening quarter.

Scott County Central coach Kenyon Wright, left, directs his team against Sikeston during the third quarter Wednesday at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

Coach Holifield said his team needed to shoot from outside because of Porter's ability to smother anything inside.

"With Otto in there, I knew that he could negate a lot of what we try to do, which he did," Holifield said. "He made it difficult in there. Otto is 6-8 and he's so long, he did a great job of taking away our inside game, which is a large part of our offense as well."

The Bulldogs also were hurt by an injury to Will Holifield with 6 minutes, 7 seconds left in the third quarter. He and Porter collided on the court and both players went down and left the game. Porter returned a minute later and Holifield, Sikeston's top outside shooter, tried to return but quickly returned to the bench and did not play again.

"Will went down and he was not well and we had to sit him," coach Holifield said. "That's a large part of our team. As you can see, we have to have a shooter out there. He takes that pressure off."

Scott County's offense looked fine-tuned from the start. The Braves, who are ranked No. 1 in Class 1, shot 54 percent (30 of 56) in the game and never allowed Sikeston to get closer than seven points in the second half.

"I knew they were capable of doing just what they did," coach Holifield said. "They played exactly how they had to play to beat us."

The fans wasted little time getting into the action as the Bulldogs faithful erupted after each Will Holifield 3-pointer in the first quarter. The Bulldogs fans even let Otto Porter hear it when he was shooting free throws by chanting, "Michael's better," a reference to Otto's cousin who now plays at Missouri State.

Sikeston grabbed a 13-9 lead on Holifield's third 3-pointer, but the Braves regained the lead by the end of the quarter on a 3-pointer by Dominique Porter. The Braves pushed their lead to 10 points by halftime then kept the Bulldogs in check during the second half.

"It was sticking to our game plan," said Hatchett, who scored 14 points.

The plan worked and Hatchett used one word to summarize how he felt about exacting a little revenge for last year's loss at the Show Me Center.

"Lovely," he said.

SCC 22 15 17 16 -- 70

Sikeston 19 8 16 8 -- 51

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (70) -- Otto Porter 25, Bobby Hatchett 14, Trey Johnson 12, John Rhoden 2, Dominique Porter 17. FG 30, FT 8-10, F 11. (3-pointers: Hatchett 1, D. Porter 1. Fouled out: none)

SIKESTON (51) -- Juqualin Wiggins 11, Will Holifield 14, Janiel Hatchett 5, Corey Porter 2, Eli Jackson 3, Terry Jamison 10, Darryl Howard 6. FG 17, FT 8-14, F 15. (3-pointers: Holifield 4, Jamison 3, Hatchett 1, Howard 1. Fouled out: none)