SCOTT CITY DELIVERS TECHNICAL KNOCKOUT TO KENNETT 74-66

KENNETT -- A strange break in a hostile gymnasium and clutch free-throw shooting by Ronald Watson helped Scott City pad a slim one-point lead in the final 30 seconds for a thrilling 74-66 victory over Kennett Tuesday night in boys high school basketball action.

Watson, who scored a career-high 34 points, scored the game's final six points on perfect free-throw shooting as Scott City, the top ranked team in Missouri Class 2A, capitalized on a major error by Kennett.

Scott City (23-1) was clinging to a 67-66 lead with 26 seconds left when Kennett's Julius Taylor fouled out. After the Rams' Ricky Keller missed the first ensuing free throw, officials were called to the scorer's table and informed Taylor's replacement, Nathan Baker, was not listed in the scorebook. The error resulted in a technical foul on Kennett.

Keller sank his second free throw and Watson then sank both technical free throws for a 70-66 lead. Possession then went to the Rams and Watson was fouled and sank two more free throws for a 72-66 lead with about 20 seconds left.

Watson, who was nine of 10 on free throws in the fourth quarter, iced the game with two more free throws.

Scott City, which opened the fourth quarter with a 50-43 lead, saw point guard David Enderle foul out with 2:22 remaining. The Rams held on primarily due to 19 of 22 shooting from the free-throw line.

"That's a big win for us," said Scott City coach Derek McCord. " To come into this environment and never lose our composure and never lose the lead in the face of a lot of adversity."

The Rams never trailed in the game as they jumped out to a 12-2 lead at the start. Kennett climbed to within 19-16 by the end of the first quarter but trailed 38-29 at halftime.

"They took us out of a lot of things we wanted to do. This is the hardest we've had to work for our shots all season long," McCord said.

Ryan Weatherspoon and Scott Johnston each added 14 points for Scott City. Weatherspoon also had 11 rebounds as the Rams held a 34-28 rebounding advantage.

Anton McKinney led Kennett with 21 points and Noll Billings had 19.

Scott City will find itself in a battle of No. 1 teams on Friday when it visits Dexter, the top-ranked team in Class 3A. Dexter encountered its first loss of the season Tuesday as it was upset 72-63 on its home floor by Doniphan.

Advance 65, Oran 42

ADVANCE -- Keyed by strong defensive play, the Hornets jumped out to a 22-8 lead in the first quarter on their way to victory.

Advance (20-3) received a game-high 19 points from Garrett Broshuis and Adam Rainey added 13.

Travis Friga tallied 14 for Oran and Phillip Seyer had 12.

"I felt our defensive intensity was awfully good in the first half and got us a nice lead," said Advance coach Jim Hall.

St. Vincent 68, Oak Ridge 55

OAK RIDGE -- Ryan Prost scored 16 points to lead four St. Vincent players in double figures.

Justin Amschler added 11 points and Todd Meyer and Ryan Brown each finished with 10 for the Indians (14-6).

Beau Morrison, 19 points, was the lone Blue Jay in double figures.

St. Vincent led 15-8 after one quarter and 32-20 at halftime. Oak Ridge (6-13) cut the lead to 46-39 by the start of the fourth quarter, but the Indians outscored Oak Ridge 22-16 down the stretch.

Puxico 73, Woodland 66

WOODLAND -- Puxico downed Woodland to earn its third straight victory.

Coming off an upset win over Leopold on Thursday, Puxico (4-14) was led in scoring by J. W. Mattingly, who netted 31 points, including six 3-pointers.

Woodland led 32-28 at the break, but fell behind 48-45 by the start of the fourth quarter.

C.W. Stacy led the way for the Cardinals (10-10) with 20 points, while Jared Houchins had 15 and Jason Greer added 14.

Leopold 70, Zalma 46

LEOPOLD -- Ashton James, one of four Leopold players to score in double figures, recorded 17 points as the Wildcats rolled over Zalma.

Jason Van De Ven notched 15 points, Danny Nenninger scored 14 and Adam Horrell finished with 13 for Leopold.

Leopold (15-8) doubled Zalma's output in the first quarter, leading 22-11 and finished the first half with a 34-17 advantage. The Wildcats continued to pull away in the third, outscoring the Bulldogs 19-13 to take a 53-30 lead.

Chris Canoy led Zalma in scoring with 13 points, while Dustin Wiseman added 12.

Kelly 70, East Prairie 66

EAST PRAIRIE -- Jamie Essner poured in 25 points to lead Kelly in a close win over East Prairie, helping the Hawks to improve to 11-9.

Michael Romas followed closely behind, netting 16 points for Kelly.

The Hawks led 35-27 at halftime, and protected its eight point lead in the third quarter as it took a 54-46 lead into the fourth quarter. East Prairie was able to cut into the lead in the final eight minutes, but fell short.

"We played well at times, but East Prairie wouldn't stop," said Kelly coach Kent Mangels. "They had a good game plan and our defense was spotty in the second half, but we'll take the win."

Ryan Poyner notched a game-high 28 points for East Prairie (2-16).

Kelly will play a make-up game against Greenville at home on Thursday at 6.

Delta 55, Chaffee 43

CHAFFEE -- The Bobcats, with Troy Nussbaum leading the way with 14 points, picked up a road win at Chaffee.

Chaffee kept things close early on, down 8-6 in the first quarter, but Delta outscored Chaffee 15-10 in the second period to take a 23-16 into halftime. Delta extended its lead to 41-26 by the close of the third quarter.

Josh Altenthal added 13 points for Delta.

Perry Rice led Chaffee with 15 points, while Chase Eskew finished with 10.

Poplar Bluff 86, Scott Central 56

POPLAR BLUFF -- Poplar Bluff remained on fire as the Mules whipped Scott County Central for their ninth straight victory.

The Mules (12-11) led 37-26 at halftime and then broke the game wide open with a 27-13 third-quarter edge. Ryan Whelan hit five 3-pointers and scored 23 points for Poplar Bluff.

Scott Central got 20 points from Jreece Johnson, 14 from Allen Crites and 12 from Todd Blissett.

New Salem 67, Eagle Ridge 50

New Salem Christian was led to victory over Eagle Ridge Christian by Brandon McCormick's 31-point explosion.

Teammate Jason Conway sank 22 points, while John Devault finished with 10.

With Eagle Ridge (7-9) down by five points with five minutes left to play, it attempted to use a full-court press which backfired, resulting in a 24-12 scoring advantage for New Salem in the final quarter.

Eagle Ridge's Mike Probst netted 17 points and Toby Shreve added 14.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

New Madrid 72, Delta 46

DELTA -- A total of 21 turnovers was too much for the Lady Bobcats to overcome as they fell to New Madrid.

"They're a lot quicker than we are," said Delta coach Nate Crowden, whose team fell to 5-13. "When you commit turnovers, they turn into points on the other end against a team like them."

New Madrid took a commanding 40-16 lead into halftime, but Delta began to rally in the third quarter and cut the lead to 50-34, but it wasn't enough.

Delta's Rebecca Below sank a game-high 26 points, while Sarah Cook added 10.

Eagle Ridge 35, New Salem 25

Eagle Ridge evened its record at 4-4 with a win over New Salem.

Eagle Ridge took a 12-11 lead into the break and outscored New Salem 14-8 in the third, en route to the win.

Amber Karnes scored a game-high 16 points for Eagle Ridge, while Hannah Cordes finished with 10.

New Salem's Leah Poole notched 14 points.