MALDEN, Mo. -- Three players scored at least 20 points as Scott City High's boys basketball team earned a hard-fought 79-66 road victory over Malden Tuesday night.
Ben Sample led the way for the Rams with 22 points, Nick Steimle had 21 and Michael O'Brien added 20 in his first start of the season. O'Brien also stood out on the defensive end as he drew five charges.
"Michael O'Brien had a great game in his first start," said Scott City coach Derek McCord, whose squad improved its record to 4-1.
Ricky Keller contributed 10 points for the Rams, who led 48-41 at halftime.
Malden got 19 points from Lance Schearer.
Woodland 55, Bernie 44
MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Woodland got 20 points from Ryan Bandermann and 17 from Jared Houchins as it improved to 5-1.
Woodland outscored Bernie 8-2 in the first quarter and led 26-19 at halftime. The Cardinals pulled away in the third quarter and took a 38-26 lead into the final eight minutes.
The Cardinals made 14 of their 15 free throw attempts while Bernie made one of just two foul shots.
"I thought we defended well," said Woodland coach Jennings Wilkinson. "And we hit our free throws. The guys came off the bench and played well. I put some kids in some situations they haven't been in yet and they did an adequate job."
Bernie had three players score 38 of their 44 points. Marcus Johnson and Shad Burner each scored 14, while Robert Johnson added 10.
Oran 77, East Prairie 73
ORAN, Mo. -- Oran led most of the way but needed a late comeback to prevail.
The Eagles (3-2) found themselves behind 73-72 in the final moments, but Nathan Seyer scored a layup off a pass from Garrett Cook with just three seconds left for a 74-73 lead.
East Prairie then called a timeout that it did not have, resulting in a technical foul. Oran made one of two free throws on the technical and added two more free throws for the final margin.
Adam Friga scored 24 points to lead Oran, which also got 14 points from Tyler Cookson. The Eagles led 33-26 at halftime before East Prairie rallied.
Robert Hinkle and Ryan Poyner paced East Prairie with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
Kelly 77, Bloomfield 40
BENTON, Mo. -- Kelly picked up its first win of the season in convincing fashion.
The Hawks (1-4) got 18 points from Michael Romas, 12 from Barry Ziegler and 11 from Matt Seabaugh.
"We played a lot better tonight," said Kelly coach Nick Lanpher. "We played a lot better defense and had better penetration. The guards did a good job hitting the big guys inside. We had four good quarters where before we'd have two."
Zach Sandage led Bloomfield with 13 points, followed by Adam Kingree with 11.
Bell City 72, Leopold 63
LEOPOLD, Mo. -- Eric Henry scored 24 points to lead four Bell City players in double figures as the Cubs knocked off Leopold.
The Cubs (3-3) also got 17 points from Jason Rampley, 14 from Gabe Scherer and 10 from Brian Phillips.
Leopold (3-3) was paced by Ashton James with 27 points. Daniel Schaab added 17 and Josh Van de Ven scored 13.
Delta 64, Meadow Heights 61
DELTA, Mo. -- Trailing by two points with about 50 seconds left, Delta used a steal and a 3-pointer to get by Meadow Heights.
Delta (4-2) basically won the game at the free-throw line, where it was 16 of 20. Meadow Heights made 13 of 24.
Delta had just six players score, but four of them were in double figures. Lance Kinder led the way with 19, followed by Troy Nussbaum with 13, Craig Bock with 12 and Joey Keys with 12.
"We shot well from the free-throw line but other than that we just showed up," said Delta coach Jim Gloth. "Meadow Heights played well. They're getting better."
Meadow Heights (1-4) was led in scoring by Josh Mayfield, who had 22. Brandon Tallent added 11.
The Panthers led 30-28 at halftime but found themselves trailing 46-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
St. Vincent 63, N. County 60
BONNE TERRE, Mo. -- Tyler Wengert and Mark Gotto accounted for 45 of St. Vincent's points as the Indians rallied past North County.
Wengert scored 25 points and Gotto had 20 for the Indians (2-2), who trailed 35-26 at halftime but outscored the Raiders 19-9 in the third period and then held on down the stretch.
"It's a good win for us," said St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy. "We came back in the second half and then we put the game away at the free-throw line."
Twin Cities 61, Eagle Ridge 54
FESTUS, Mo. -- Despite 26 points from Toby Shreve and 18 from Andrew Mellies, Eagle Ridge Christian School of Cape Girardeau fell to Twin Cities Christian.
Eagle Ridge (2-5) led 30-27 at halftime before Twin Cities rallied in the second half.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Eagle Ridge 27, Twin Cities 13
FESTUS, Mo. -- Amber Karnes was the game's lone double-figure scorer with 15 points to lead Eagle Ridge Christian School of Cape Girardeau past Twin Cities Christian.
Eagle Ridge (3-2) was ahead 17-11 at halftime and outscored Twin Cities 10-2 over the final two periods.
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