Scott City boys basketball team explodes in second quarter, downs Zalma

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Zalma may have made a splash with a quarterfinal win Monday night, but top-seeded Scott City wasn't about to be upstaged in Thursday night's Woodland Tournament semifinal at Woodland High School.

After a poor first eight minutes, the Rams entered the second quarter trailing the Bulldogs -- the tournament's fifth seed -- by five points, but outscored the Bulldogs 22-4 in the second period to cruise to victory and advance to Friday night's championship. Scott City will face Perryville for the tournament title.

Trent Pobst finished with a game-high 17 points for Scott City (2-0) and was 11 of 16 from the free-throw line. Braden Cox added 14 points for the Rams while Dylan Keller finished with 13 points.

Scott City coach Mark Dannenmueller said his team's performance in the first quarter was the worst he'd seen his team play in a long time. The Rams had five turnovers in the period and trailed Zalma 16-11 heading into the second quarter.

Scott City coach Mark Dannenmueller talks with Dylan Keller during a free throw in Thursday's semifinal game at the Woodland Tournament.

"I didn't think we played very well the entire game, but I thought our energy in the second half was really, really good," Dannenmueller said.

The Rams turned the ball over only three times in the second quarter while forcing Zalma into eight turnovers. The No. 1 seed led 33-20 at halftime.

Scott City outscored the Bulldogs 24-9 in the third quarter and carried a comfortable 57-29 advantage into the final frame.

Cole Shelby led Zalma (1-1) with 12 points, while Brent Overbey was held to 11 points. Overbey scored 41 in the Bulldogs' first-round win over Meadow Heights, and Dannenmueller said shutting him down was a point of emphasis.

"We wanted to limit him, and our key was to attack him on defense and get him in foul trouble, and we did," Dannenmueller said. "I thought we did a pretty good job on him, and our energy in the second half was just fantastic."

Tip-off for the championship game against the Pirates on Friday night will be 8 p.m.

Zalma 16 4 9 9 -- 38

Scott City 11 22 24 15 -- 72

ZALMA (38) -- Cole Shelby 12, Brent Overbey 11, Alex Steinberg 7, Luke Robertson 3, Jacob Steinberg 2, Peyton Ford 2, Christopher Lombeida 1. FG 15, FT 4-14, F 24. (3-pointers: Shelby 2, Robertson 1, Overbey 1. Fouled out: None.)

SCOTT CITY (72) -- Trent Pobst 17, Braden Cox 14, Dylan Keller 13, David Smith 8, Casey Medlin 7, Jordan Kluesner 6, Eli Berry 3, Jaden Kaiser 2, Nick Bickings 2. FG 22, FT 23-30, F 17. (3-pointers: Smith 2, Keller 1, Medlin 1, Berry 1. Fouled out: None.)