Scott County Central boys basketball adds another conference title with win over Scott City

In a rivalry that's been as tight as ever this season, someone was going to get the last laugh. After splitting a pair of tournament games already this campaign, the Scott City and Scott County Central boys basketball teams met one final time this season on Tuesday night at Scott City High School. With the Scott-Mississippi Conference regular-season championship on the line, the Braves exacted a little revenge with an 86-76 victory.

SCC sandwiched halftime in the middle of a 14-0 run and outscored the home side 22-13 in the third quarter to pull away in a contest that was tied at 33 at the break.

The Braves -- who had not yet earned a title this season, tournament or otherwise -- were able to put the disappointment of the teams' last meeting -- when Scott City pulled out a 77-74 win on Jan. 27 for the conference tournament crown -- and finally earn a little hardware to add to a jam-packed trophy case.

"There's a little bit of pressure because everyone expects us to win. It's in our DNA that we have to win every year," SCC senior Jeffery Porter said. "But we have a new group that doesn't really have the experience, so it's a learning curve for everyone.

"We wanted it bad. Losing that last time to them, we were kind of down, but we tried to keep ourselves straight and come out with a little more motivation."

Scott City's Dylan Keller passes between Scott County Central's Garry Wilkerson, left, and Deven Blackmon during the third quarter.

Porter put in a massive performance with 32 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and five steals to lead a Braves (17-8 overall, 7-0 Scott-Mississippi Conference) side that featured four other double-digit scorers -- Deven Blackmon (19), Deantrell Beard (14) and Garry Wilkerson (13).

It was Blackmon who sparked his side in the first half, putting up 12 points before halftime, including the final two buckets of the second quarter, capping a 7-0 swing and knotting things at 33.

Then it was Porter who kick-started the second half, opening the third with a conventional three-point play just 15 seconds in before scoring 11 points in the quarter -- and 23 in the half -- to help Scott County open up an 11-point advantage late in the third quarter.

That cushion allowed the Braves to hang on for the win.

"We tried to run a little bit and tried to spread the ball out, get the ball in the high post and move it," SCC coach Matt Cline said. "They did a good job of moving and spreading out [Scott City's] defense. We did a good job of knocking down shots, and [the Rams] weren't hot."

Scott City found itself victimized by its Achilles' heel -- the third quarter. A post-halftime lull haunted the Rams yet again.

"It seems like every game we've lost we've gotten beat by nine or 10 points in the third quarter, and we can't figure it out," Scott City coach Mark Dannenmueller said. "I've watched more film this year than probably any other year just trying to figure out what the problem is in the third quarter. We just can't figure it out."

After Wilkerson got under the hoop for a basket and a 38-33 Braves lead just 40 seconds in to the third quarter, the Rams called a timeout to try to steady the ship. SCC only extended its lead, though.

"We knew it and we talked about it. Friday night we lost in the third quarter and just got dominated," Dannenmueller said. "We tried to call a timeout and say, 'Here we are again,' and we just never recovered. I don't know what the answer is. [Scott County Central] came out and did some good things and I just didn't make enough good adjustments, I guess.

"I've tried different methods [of motivation] and obviously I haven't figured it out yet. All I can push it back on is that it's got to be on me. I haven't made the right adjustments."

Scott City (15-10, 6-1) got 21 points from Dylan Keller, while Trent Pobst added 15 and Jordan Kluesner pitched in 13.

The Rams shot 27 of 58 (46.5 percent) from the field and 7 of 19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point range.

"Our focus was if they got the ball inside we were going to put a body in front of the [Braden] Cox kid. Last time we were out here he had about 35," Cline said. "We just wanted to play solid defense. It got away from us and we didn't do it very well. I don't like the way we played -- we got beat back too many times and got gassed on the back and middle of the press -- but at times we played all right in the half court defensively."

Scott County Central was 30 of 47 (63.8 percent) from the floor and 4 of 10 (40 percent) from outside the arc.

"Ball movement. It was key to get people in the right spot at the right time and be able to finish at the rim," Porter said.

Leading 55-46 after three quarters, the Braves put together a 7-0 run in less than 30 seconds early in the fourth. A Wilkerson 3 sparked the swing before Porter stole the ball and scored in transition before Wilkerson again put the ball in the hole on the fast break. That pushed SCC's edge to 62-48 with 7:10 left in the third quarter. The 14-point gap was the largest of the night.

Scott City responded with a 10-2 run that was capped by a Keller bucket that drew the hosts within six, 64-58 with 4:10 left to play.

Two minutes later, Cox later laid the ball up and in to pull the Rams within five points. It was the closest the Rams had been since halftime, but also the closest they got.

SCC paraded to the free-throw line in the game's final minutes, going 17 of 22 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.

The first half was one of runs, as a Kluesner jumper allowed Scott City to double-up their rivals 8-4 just over three minutes in. Scott County responded with a run of its own, as Blackmon got a bucket and the foul for a three-point play and then scored in transition to give his side its first lead of the game, 9-8 at the 4:19 mark.

That edge was pushed to five points before Isiah Berry knocked down a short, running jumper for the Rams that tied things up at 17 with 22 ticks left on the clock. Beard converted a baseline jump shot just before time expired on the first quarter to give the visitors a slim 19-17 edge after one.

The game remained tight until midway through the second quarter, when a layup from Pobst opened up a 9-0 run for the Rams that finished when Pobst put three points on the board the hard way and gave his team a 33-26 advantage with 1:50 left until halftime.

That, however, was the last time Scott City scored until 5:35 of the third quarter.

"We wanted to get the ball inside. We missed a lot of shots at the rim," Dannenmueller said. "We had a seven-point lead and we came down and miss a shot at the rim and they go on a 7-0 run into half. Then they started the second half on a 7-0 run.

"We wanted to move the ball and get it inside and I thought we did some good things, but we just didn't finish."

The Braves went into the locker room fresh off consecutive baskets from Blackmon and they kept on rolling, even after the break.

Scott County Central also defeated Scott City in the fifth-place semifinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Dec. 29.

SCC wraps up the regular season at New Madrid County Central on Thursday before its Class 2 District 1 tournament begins Saturday.

"We've been getting ready for districts ever since last summer," Cline said. "You want to win all of them and [this] is a good win, but Â… we have a tough district to get through. There are five or six really good ball teams we have to beat."

Scott City has completed the regular season and will prepare to take on East Prairie -- another team it will be facing for a third time this season -- in the Class 3 District 2 tournament hosted by the Rams on Saturday. Scott City bested East Prairie 73-56 in the regular season and 69-59 in a Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament semifinal.

"This was the third time we've played Scott County, and we're going to play East Prairie for a third time on Saturday. It's tough to beat a team multiple times," Dannenmueller said. "We've just said, 'Hey, it's at the point of the season where it's win or go home.' We're not going to change a lot of stuff at this time of year; we'll just tweak a few things. I think we've got really good things and they'll be ready."

SCC 19 14 22 31 -- 86

Scott City 17 16 13 30 -- 76

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (86) -- Deven Blackmon 19, Deantrell Beard 14, Garry Wilkerson 13, Jeffery Porter 32, Gerald Sanders 2, Keyth Blissett 6. FG 30-47, FT 22-31, F 16. (3-pointers: Wilkerson 2, Blackmon, Porter. Fouled out: None.)

SCOTT CITY (76) -- Trent Pobst 15, Isiah Berry 8, Jordan Kluesner 13, Braden Cox 9, Dylan Keller 21, David Smith 8, Ty Wilthong 2. FG 27-58, FT 15-21, F 19. (3-pointers: Keller 3, Smith 2, Pobst, Kluesner. Fouled out: None.)