SCOTT CENTRAL GIRLS STORM PAST NAYLOR

SIKESTON -- It didn't take long for the Scott County Central girls basketball team to remove all the suspense from Monday night's Class 1A regional game.

The Bravettes scored the first 16 points of the contest and went on to post a fairly routine 60-47 victory over Naylor at the Sikeston High School Field House.

Scott County Central, now 15-9 on the season, advances to Monday's 1A sectional game at Poplar Bluff High School. The Bravettes and Couch will square off in an 8:15 p.m. tipoff. Couch defeated Ste. Genevieve Valle 74-63 Monday night.

To Naylor's credit, the Lady Eagles didn't simply roll over after falling behind by such a big margin early. But they also never seriously challenged the Bravettes.

"We got off to a really good start," said Scott Central coach Semona Penrod, whose squad won in the regional round of the playoffs for the 14th straight season. "But at some point in the second quarter I think we started to let up."

Brandy Miller paced the Bravettes offensively with 17 points, 12 coming in the first half. Ashley Whitson followed with 14 points while Lakeya Turner had nine and Katie Griffin eight.

Naylor got 20 points from Crystal McGee and 10 from Jennifer Muretich.

"We settled down and played a lot better after the first quarter," said Naylor coach Wayne Copeland. "But the slow start really hurt us."

Miller and Turner each scored six of Scott Central's first 16 points, with Griffin and Whitson contributing two apiece.

By the time Naylor -- which had all kinds of problems handling Scott Central's press in the early going -- knew what had hit it, the Lady Eagles trailed 16-0.

Naylor finally got on the scoreboard with 16 seconds left in the opening quarter, but the Bravettes scored again before the end of the period to lead 18-2.

The Lady Eagles scored the first seven points of the second quarter to close within 18-9, but the Bravettes boosted their lead back to 33-17 by halftime.

Scott Central led 50-30 after three quarters and the Bravettes opened up their biggest lead of the night at 53-30 early in the final period.

Naylor used a 9-0 run to pull within 53-39 but the Lady Eagles could get no closer until scoring the final basket of the game.

"It's nice to keep winning at this time of the season," said Penrod, who left Sikeston not knowing who her team's sectional opponent would be. "But we know that the teams are going to keep getting tougher so we have to keep playing better."