Scott City boys basketball team defeats Chaffee to reach Scott-Miss tourney title game

~ Scott City beat Chaffee 63-49 and will face Scott County Central in tonight's championship game of the Scott-Mississippi tournament

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The rivals entered the gym to an electric environment before Thursday's Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament semifinal.

The well-represented Scott City student section saw plenty it liked in the first quarter, while the Chaffee backers watched their Red Devils miss shot after shot.

Chaffee only managed two points over the opening eight minutes and never regrouped. The Rams' lead never dipped below eight points after the opening period on their way to a 63-49 victory.

"I was just ready," Scott City junior Jesse Sanders said. "We were kicking on all cylinders on 'D.'"

Chaffee went 1 of 13 from the field and turned over the ball six times in the first quarter.

"We came out with a lack of focus," Chaffee coach Josh Govreau said. "That's what we've been talking about the last three days. For us to win, it's probably going to have to be a game in the 40s and we're going to have to be very patient on offense. We're going to have to be disciplined and our shot selection has got to be tremendous and we have to execute. The first quarter was just horrendous. Our shot selection, I don't think we had one good shot the whole first quarter."

Scott City senior Zach Cotner led the Rams with eight of his team's 14 points in the first quarter. But Cotner picked up his second personal foul with 3 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first quarter and his third with 2:12 left before halftime. The foul trouble meant Cotner spent significant chunks of time on the bench, including the entire third quarter.

"It's really frustrating sitting there," Cotner said. "It's my last time ever getting to play Chaffee in my favorite sport. I don't like sitting on the sideline watching, but I'm proud of my teammates. If I'm not there, I know all my teammates believe they're still going to do good."

Sanders helped pick up some of the slack with Cotner on the bench. He scored 15 points, while Ryan Brock added 11 points.

"We just had to be mentally tough and keep our composure," Sanders said. "It's a tough environment. You've just got to stay poised."

Scott City coach Mark Dannenmueller was pleased with his team's ability to overcome the loss of Cotner for significant minutes Thursday.

"You take away somebody that's as good as he is away from your team, that's going to effect you," Dannenmueller said. "I don't care how many weapons you have. But I thought our kids did a good job of playing. I've said it a million times, we're not a team just for Zach Cotner. He's a great player, love having him, but we have good players and we had other guys step up."

Chaffee (9-5) tried to make a run in the fourth quarter, but the Rams (13-4) wouldn't allow it. Alex Crowe's basket with 2:30 left cut Chaffee's deficit to eight points, but Cotner kept the Red Devils at bay. He scored eight points after Crowe's shot. Cotner scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter.

Scott City went 6 of 7 from the field and 11 of 13 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Chaffee never found its rhythm offensively. The Red Devils shot 32 percent (17 of 53) in the game.

"We've been working really hard on getting in the right position," Dannenmueller said about his team's defense. "Watching film, we saw that when we were struggling on man-to-man, we were out of position. That was causing us to foul a lot. ... That was the key, just effort and communicating. All the stuff that contributes to a good defensive team."

Crowe led Chaffee with 19 points, while Jordan Yahn added 15, all in the second half.

The Rams advanced to face top-seeded Scott County Central in today's 8:30 p.m. title game. Chaffee will battle Oran for third place at 5:30 p.m.

Chaffee 2 15 10 22 -- 49

Scott City 14 13 13 23 -- 63

CHAFFEE (49) -- Alex Crowe 19, Peyton Montgomery 1, Zach Dannenmueller 2, Cody Johnson 2, Layton Tenkhoff 2, Jordan Yahn 15, Alex Davie 7. FG 17, FT 12-16, F 23. (3-pointers: Crowe 2, Johnson 1. Fouled out: none)

SCOTT CITY (63) -- Logan Henson 2, Landon Robert 8, Jesse Sanders 15, Jonathan McFall 3, Zach Cotner 24, Ryan Brock 11. FG 22, FT 18-25, F 18. (3-pointers: Sanders 1)