Scott City boys basketball advances to title game after tough battle with East Prairie

Scott City coach Mark Dannenmueller expected his team to be in a battle in Thursday night's Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament semifinal against East Prairie, and that's exactly what he got.

The third-seeded Rams went ahead for good on the first bucket of the final quarter, during which Scott City found a new gear on its home floor and held the second-seeded Eagles to only four fourth-quarter points in a 69-59 victory.

"We knew it was going to be tough," Dannenmueller said. "We knew it was going to be a hard game. They do a lot of things well. They cut well. They move well. They're hard to guard. They're physical. They play extremely hard. There was nothing that was going to be easy about it.

"Two weeks ago, we wouldn't have won this game, but we're finding ways to win these games when we don't necessarily play the smartest or play our best. We still haven't put that whole game together yet, but I like the way that we competed."

The Rams will face top-seeded Scott County Central in the title game at 7:45 p.m. Friday. The Braves, who upended No. 4 Oran 73-56 in the first semifinal, edged out a 75-72 win over Scott City earlier this season in a fifth-place semifinal at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

"This is great for our seniors. They get to play in a championship game of the conference tournament on their home floor of their senior year," Dannenmueller said. "It's something they're going to remember for the rest of their lives.

Scott City's Jordan Kluesner cheers for his teammates from the sideline in the third quarter of a semifinal game in the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 in Scott City, Missouri.Glenn Landberg

"... We get the chance to measure ourselves against a program like that, and that's all we want. We just want the chance."

There were nine lead changes in the first quarter, during which Scott City (10-6) took the largest lead of the period -- a fast-break layup by Dylan Keller put the Rams ahead 24-18 at the 3:08 mark -- before East Prairie (8-8) went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 24-all heading into the second.

Keller finished with a game-high 25 points, including 12 in the opening period. He finished 60 percent (6 of 10) from the floor.

The scoring slowed down in the second quarter, as the Eagles went ahead 26-24 on a bucket by Dylan Lingle with 5:23 left in the first half. Scott City, which never fell behind by more than four points in the period, regained the lead with 7.9 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Trent Pobst. A bucket at the buzzer by Cade Douglas gave East Prairie a 34-33 lead at the break.

"When you have a high-scoring first quarter like that, it always evens itself out," Dannenmueller said. "You're going to start missing, and I think each team started missing there in that second quarter. ... It was totally different. Each team was getting what it wanted in the first, and in that second quarter, I thought both teams were still playing with that same pace. We just weren't getting the same shots, and the shots weren't falling."

The two teams swapped the lead eight times in the third quarter, as Scott City took its largest lead, 46-42, on a pair of free throws by Isiah Berry. A baseline jumper by Jon Ross Slayden gave East Prairie a 55-54 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

"Going into the fourth quarter, we had them right were we wanted them," East Prairie coach Casey Knight said. "We were up one with a chance to finish it out, and we slowed ourselves down. We got timid and got to looking for who was going to take over versus just continuing to move and run our offense."

Sophomore David Smith, who contributed eight points off the bench, gave Scott City a lead it didn't relinquish at 57-55 when he knocked down a 3-pointer from the right elbow with 6:38 remaining in the game.

Dannenmueller said he's done a poor job of getting Smith more involved but was pleased to see him contribute five pivotal points in the fourth quarter.

"He came in and hit some big shots. He's somebody who's capable," Dannenmueller said. "... He can shoot it, and he's not scared of the moment."

East Prairie's Brian Merryman, left, and Braden Cox battle for rebounding position during the third quarter of a semifinal game in the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament on Thursday in Scott City. The Rams won 69-59.Glenn Landberg

The Rams outscored East Prairie 15-4 in the final quarter, and Dannenmueller said the unexpected is what he's learned to expect from his team.

"There's one thing I know about these guys, and it's that I don't know about them when they get in those moments," he said. "That's one thing I'm comfortable with.

"We've been in these situations, and with a lot of these guys, this is their second or third year on varsity now. So they've been in these situations before. I just thought we did a pretty good job of being patient and trying to execute offensively."

Meanwhile, the Eagles missed all seven of their free-throw attempts in the final period, including three straight bonus shots in the first four minutes. They shot 50 percent (10 of 20) on the night at the charity stripe.

"The free-throw line's been something we've struggled with all year. It's no secret," Knight said. "We've got to do the little things to overcome that throughout the game."

Derez Tipler led the way for the Eagles, finishing with 18 points. Ellis contributed 15 points for East Prairie, which finished 23 of 58 (40 percent) from the field.

The Eagles will take on Oran in the third-place game at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

"After Christmas, we had a little skid there where we lost a few in a row," Knight said. "Anytime any teenager does that, mentally they're going to get a little down on it. When you get down playing mentally, your fire and your passion goes. I saw that tonight in the first three quarters, and that's what we're going to grow on and build on from there.

"We'll focus on the first three quarters and just work on finishing."

Pobst added 15 points for Scott City while Braden Cox contributed nine points. The Rams shot 20 of 59 (34 percent) from the floor but were 22 of 29 (76 percent) from the charity stripe, including 8 of 11 (73 percent) in the fourth quarter.

"I told the kids, 'Any day you can play for a championship, that's what it's about,'" Dannenmueller said. "We can go out and play our greatest game in the world tomorrow, and they can come down and hit a shot to beat you at the end. You can't control that, so the kids are excited. I'm excited.

"This is what you want. You get to go out and play on your home floor against one of the greats."

Scott City 24 9 21 15 -- 69

East Prairie 24 10 21 4 -- 59

SCOTT CITY (69) -- Dylan Keller 25, Trent Pobst 15, Braden Cox 9, David Smith 8, Isiah Berry 6, Jordan Kluesner 6. FG 20, FT 22-29, F 15. (3-pointers: Keller 5, Smith 2. Fouled out: None.)

EAST PRAIRIE (59) -- Derez Tipler 18, Brett Ellis 15, Deverence Jones 7, Cade Douglas 6, Luke Marcum 5, Jon Ross Slayden 4, Dylan Lingle 2, Alex Cowgill 2. FG 23, FT 10-20, F 21. (3-pointers: Tipler 2, Marcum 1. Fouled out: Marcum, Cowgill.)