Scott City boys basketball team holds off Perryville to reach Woodland final

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Scott City boys basketball coach Mark Dannenmueller wanted to keep things simple for his players heading into the fourth quarter of the Rams' semifinal game against Perryville in the Woodland tournament Thursday night.

His message to his players, who led the third-seeded Pirates by one point after each quarter of the game, was to forget about the previous 24 minutes and win the final quarter.

"We won the first by one, we tied the second and third, and we always tell them, 'Just wipe the slate clean and let's win the fourth quarter. We win by one, we win the game,'" Dannenmueller said. "I know it's cliche, but it's the truth. We just said, 'Hey, let's win this quarter right here, and it starts with us getting a bucket.'"

Junior Isiah Berry got that first bucket -- a 3-pointer 15 seconds into the fourth quarter -- and the No. 2 Rams topped Perryville 60-49 at Woodland High School.

"We grew up a lot tonight," Dannenmueller said. "Last year we got beat in one quarter it seemed like, and tonight we hung on and hung on, and then in that fourth quarter I thought we really dominated the game. I'm just excited for our kids. This is awesome. They deserve it. They've been working so hard -- preseason, offseason, coming in in the morning and getting shots up at 6:30. For them to come out and play like this, I'm just extremely proud of them."

Scott City pushed its lead to 48-42 with 6 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the game with four free throws following Berry's 3-pointer.

Following a Perryville timeout the Pirates chipped the deficit to four points on a basket by senior Eli Tripp, but it was as close as they'd get the remainder of the way.

The Rams missed a 3-pointer on their next possession, but they scored on their next five possessions to push the lead to 10 points with 2:11 remaining and held on for the win to improve to 2-0 on the season.

"Just making plays," Dannenmueller said about how his team grew up. "There were times we got a little frazzled, but they just stepped up and made plays. I didn't do anything for Brock Uelsmann, for our senior to just come out and dominate and be a man right from the get-go. That was nothing I did, he did it. That's all on him, and that's all a tribute to our players. That's just understanding the moment, and understanding that other teams go for state championships and things like that -- this is big for us. For our kids to step up and be able to play for a championship, whether it's the Woodland tournament or the Christmas tournament or in the district tournament, that's huge. They just stepped up to the challenge, I guess, is the best way to put it."

Uelsmann, who finished with a game-high 22 points, had 10 in the first quarter to help the Rams build a 16-15 advantage.

They led by as many as seven in the second quarter, but a layup by Perryville junior Conner Stark at the buzzer made it a 27-26 game at the break.

The teams exchanged 3s to start the second half and Perryville took its first lead since the first quarter on a 3 by Stark from the left wing that put the Pirates ahead 34-32 with 4:30 left in the third.

The lead changed four more times in the quarter, but Scott City took the lead for good on a 3-point play by junior Trent Pobst. The Rams led 41-40 going to the fourth quarter before taking control of the game.

"You know, we didn't really play a good game the first three quarters, and we kept battling and battling, and finally actually got a lead there in the third quarter," Dreyer said. "They got a lot of breaks, I thought, throughout the game and I just told the kids I thought the ball was going to start bouncing our way and to keep fighting. We played extremely hard through the entire game. In the fourth quarter it just came down to execution. We couldn't execute and they did."

Perryville (1-1) will play fourth-seeded Meadow Heights in the third-place game at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Top-seeded host Woodland and Scott City meet for the title at 8 p.m. Friday.

"They're a 1-seed for a reason. We're going to have to play well and we're going to have to compete hard. Plus we're playing them in their gym, so it's going to be a nice crowd, and it's going to be a fun atmosphere for our kids and we're going to see where we're at. I'm just excited about the challenge right now. This is big for our kids, this is big for our program, and I'm excited for them."

Scott City 16 11 14 19 -- 60

Perryville 15 11 14 9 -- 49

SCOTT CITY (60) -- Dylan Keller 14, Trent Pobst 8, Drew Short 2, Isiah Berry 6, Jordan Kluesner 2, Brock Uelsmann 22, Braden Cox 6. FG 21, FT 14-23, F 13. (3-pointers: Keller 2, Berry 2. Fouled out: None.)

PERRYVILLE (49) -- McGwire Bartley 7, Conner Stark 11, Luke Schlichting 10, Collin Stief 5, Eli Tripp 14, Wyatt Johnson 2. FG 16, FT 11-14, F 20. (3-pointers: Bartley, Stark 3, Schlichting 2. Fouled out: None.)

Woodland 86, Meadow Heights 66

Top-seeded Woodland took a 23 point lead into the second half and cruised into the final of its own tournament.

The Cardinals outscored the Panters 28-11 in the second quarter to seize control.

Zach Beel scored a game-high 23 points to lead Woodland. Garret Reynolds added 19 points and Devon Gramlisch netted 16.

Jacob Douglas and Tyler Cook each scored 18 points to pace Meadow Heights.

Woodland 27 28 16 15 -- 86

Meadow Heights 21 11 13 21 -- 66

WOODLAND (86) -- Evan Grindstaff 7, Ben Grindstaff 2, Jake Long 4, Garret Reynolds 19, Cole Schlief 5, Tyler Womack 5, Zach Beel 23, Devon Gramlisch 16, Michael McCormick 5. FG 35, FT 10-17, F 22. (3-pointers: E. Grindstaff, Reynolds 3, Schlief, Womack. Fouled out: None.)

MEADOW HEIGHTS (66) -- Jacob Douglas 18, Spencer Bragg 2, Justin McGuire 11, Lane Baremore 3, Jacob Hunt 6, Brendan Welker 3, Nick Mayfield 2, Tyler Cook 18, Devin Wilfong 3. FG 21, FT 19-29, F 18. (3-pointers: Douglas, McGuire 3, Welker. Fouled out: None.)

Zalma 54, Oak Ridge 29

Zalma's Brent Overbey netted a game-high 24 points, including four 3-pointers, as the sixth-seeded Bulldogs picked up their first win of the season over the seventh-seeded Blue Jays in a consolation semifinal.

The Bulldogs led by 13 points at halftime and outscored the Blue Jays by 12 points in the second half on their way to victory.

Christopher Lombeida added 10 points for Zalma (1-1)

Nathan Bolin and Jacob Seabaugh had eight points each for Oak Ridge (0-2).

Oak Ridge 8 8 5 8 -- 29

Zalma 21 8 14 11 -- 54

OAK RIDGE (29) -- Nathan Bolin 8, Steven Masterson 2, Jordan Gilliland 3, Jacob Seabaugh 8, Joe Grieme 4, Clay Maintz 4. FG 11, FT 7-20, F 12 (3-pointers: None. Fouled out: None.)

ZALMA (54) -- Cole Shelby 6, D.J. Hankins 8, Alex Steinberg 4, Christopher Lombeida 10, Brent Overbey 24, Andrew Hovis 4. FG 19, FT 4-9, F 23 (3-pointers: Overbey 4. Fouled out: None.)