SCOTT CITY ENCOUNTERS EARLY TEST, FENDS OFF KELLY 68-61

The fourth-seeded Scott City Rams were pushed well into the fourth quarter by the 13-seed Kelly Hawks before nailing down a 68-61 win in a first-round game Wednesday in the University High Christmas Tournament.

A Nick Steimle field-goal with 45 seconds left broke the final tie at 61 and signaled the beginning of the end for the Kelly squad. With the Hawks over the penalty limit, the Rams scored seven unanswered points down the stretch to secure the victory.

"I think we're going to be a pretty good team before this thing (the season) is all over," said Scott City coach Derek McCord. "We're playing a lot of new faces and still getting to know each other."

Scott City (5-2) will face No. 5 Advance at 9 tonight in a winner's bracket quarterfinal. Advance moved on with a 54-45 victory over No. 12 Delta. In Wednesday's other first-round games in the upper half of the bracket, top-seeded Charleston eased past Meadow Heights 65-36 and No. 8 Oran slipped past No. 9 Woodland 64-57. Charleston and Oran will meet today at 4:30.

Kelly (2-5) seemed intent on providing the tournament's first upset. Showing good patience and shot selection in the first half, the Hawks blistered the nets at a 69 percent-pace from the field as the two teams battled to a tie at 33 at the intermission.

In the third quarter, the Rams went on a 9-0 run with about five minutes left to take a 46-37 advantage. Kelly came roaring back in the final two minutes of the stanza to pull to within three before a 15-foot buzzer beater by 6-foot-seven center Steimle sent Scott City up 51-45 as the period ended.

Everytime it seemed as though Scott City was poised to pull away, the Hawks would charge back.

Kelly mounted two more rallies to pull into ties at 51 and 58 early in the fourth quarter as both teams traded baskets to lock the score at 61 with about a minute left.

Two factors, the Rams' control of the backboards and their ability to create foul-shot opportunities, were the ultimate keys for the Scott City win. They have outrebounded their opponents in every game thus far.

"Our defense really picked it up in the second half," said McCord. "The two charges taken by Michael (O'Brien) were huge. That's a big play when you can take a possession away and then come down and score."

The Rams had four players share the scoring load, as Steimle and junior point-guard Craig Jungers had 16 points each. D. J. Walton and O'Brien chipped in with 10 apiece.

Jungers had a nice all-around game as he dished 10 assists with only two turnovers.

Kelly was led by Michael Romas with a game-high 20 points 13 in the first half. Barry Ziegler added 13 and Jon Heuring had 10.

No. 1 Charleston 65

No. 16 Meadow Heights 36

Top-seed Charleston (2-5), welcomed the return of leading scorer Lezcano Dean, as it romped over bottom-seed Meadow Heights.

Dean, out for several games with injuries, led the Bluejays with 23 points -- including five 3-pointers.

Never in trouble, Charleston led 44-19 at the end of the first half.

Charleston's Henry Hall and Delon Turner contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Josh Mayfield led Meadow Heights with 17.

No. 5 Advance

No. 12 Delta

Advance, which reached last year's championship game, took its first step toward returning to the U-High final.

Adam Rainey led the Hornets (6-1) with 17 points while teammate Aaron Cantrell scored 11 and Garrett Sherman tallied 10.

Lance Kinder paced Delta (4-4) with 17 points and Troy Nussbaum finished with 14.

Advance jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter and led 26-20 at halftime. The Hornets took a 39-28 lead into the fourth quarter.

Advance shot twice as many free throws (31-15) as Delta and held a 20-11 scoring edge at the line.