Scott County Central boys basketball team returns to final four after defeat of Valle Catholic

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- The Scott County Central boys basketball team has been to the state quarterfinal round plenty of times. Eight consecutive times, to be exact.

The defending Class 1 state champion Braves, who were bumped up to Class 2 this season, knew that their experience in the postseason was beneficial to them when they took to the Farmington Civic Center court Saturday night to battle Valle Catholic.

But they also knew that if they took the moment for granted, then a chance at the Class 2 title might slip away.

SCC seized the moment and its spot in the final four for a second year in a row with a 70-62 win over the Warriors.

"We came out here and took it as we've never played in the championship game before," senior forward Javonta Daniel said. "Coach told us, 'We can't come in here and act like we've been here before because any team can take it.' He said we have to come out and work hard and play like we've never played in this game before to come out with a win in this game."

The Braves trailed just once in the contest -- an early 4-2 deficit just 1 minute, 43 seconds into the game -- but the Warriors didn't go away easily.

SCC held a 14-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter and were up 28-20 at halftime.

Scott County Central's Jeffrey Porter drives against Valle Catholic's Nick Oberle during the fourth quarter of the Class 2 state quarterfinal Saturday, March 7, 2015 in Farmington, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

Junior guard Jeffery Porter had as many points as the Warriors in the first half and all 14 of his team's points in the second quarter, including a basket in the closing seconds of the half to push the lead to eight. He finished with a game-high 46 points.

"I was just trying to be aggressive tonight," Porter said with a smile.

The Warriors, which went 0 for 6 from beyond the arc in the first half, quickly sank their first 3-pointer and scored on a tip-in to cut the Braves' lead to three 59 seconds into the second half.

SCC rattled off an 11-2 run over the next two minutes that featured the Braves' only 3-pointer of the game from senior guard Drake Kesler to push their lead to 12.

Valle hit three more 3s over the final four minutes of the quarter to cut it to 45-38 heading into the final eight minutes.

"It's just mental mistakes that we were making," Porter said about the defensive letdowns. "We're not communicating out there on the floor. That was mostly it."

Valle senior Daniel Bergtholdt, a 6-foot-5 center, converted a couple of 3-point plays with about seven minutes remaining to pull the Warriors within 49-48, and he scored with 5:12 remaining to cut it to 51-50 before the Braves started to pull away again.

"He's a good player, and we just didn't have anybody to match up with him at his size," Porter said.

After a fastbreak basket by senior guard Trevion Moore, Porter outscored the Warriors 9-2 to push the lead back to 10 with 1:32 remaining.

Bergholdt drained a 3 following an SCC timeout with 1:24 to go, but Porter was sent to the line on the next two possessions and sank four free throws to make it 66-55 with 1:07 remaining.

Valle got a layup, forced a turnover and junior guard Connor Basler hit his third 3-pointer of the game to cut it to six with 50.3 seconds remaining.

Moore missed two free throws, while Bergtholdt went 2 of 3 at the line after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to cut it to 66-62 with 34 seconds left.

Moore missed two more free throws before Valle regained possession. The Warriors lost control of the ball around half court and tried to call a timeout while diving for the loose ball.

Valle wasn't awarded the timeout, and SCC senior Matthew Blissett eventually came up with the ball and the Braves got a timeout with 21.1 seconds to go.

"That's Matthew's game," SCC coach Frank Staple said. "Matthew is our heart and soul. Matthew does all those small things for us, and without him we don't win."

Kesler split a pair of free throws and Porter hit two more for the final score.

"They're top-notch players, and they're just fearless," Staple said about Valle. "We lost them a few times, but fortunately at the end we tried to match up with them and we were able to hit some free throws -- a couple -- and pull it out."

Porter shot 15 of 27 from the field and finished a perfect 16 of 16 from the charity stripe.

"He's just solid, and a lot of teams are going to have tough matchups with Jeff, so we put the ball in his hands a lot tonight," said Staple, who was astonished after finding out Porter's scoring total. "Forty-six points. That's impressive."

The Braves improved to 25-4 on the season and advanced to the final four for the seventh time in the last eight years.

"I'm very proud of my team. We fought all year, and this was our goal," Staple said. "This is where we wanted to be. Hats off to just a game Valle Catholic team. I'm so impressed with them. But I'm proud of my boys because this is about them and my assistant coaches. This is about this family. I'm just proud of them."

The Braves will face Crane (28-2) in a semifinal game at noon Thursday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri.

Canton and Mid-Buchanan will square off in the other Class 2 semifinal at 1:40 p.m. Thursday.

"It helps a lot when you have guys that have been there," Staple said. "We have Jeffery who's been starting varsity since he was a freshman. Matthew and Javonta have been playing varsity for three years. Tre Moore and Drake, they didn't play a lot last year, but they were around it, they were here. These guys, I don't think the moment will be too big for them. We have a tall task ahead of us. It'll be tough, but we'll go up there, do our best and try to bring one back."

Scott County 14 14 17 25 -- 70

Valle Catholic 10 10 18 24 -- 62

SCOTT CENTRAL (70) -- Jeffery Porter 46, Drake Kesler 8, Javonta Daniel 8, Matthew Blissett 6, Trevion Moore 3. FG 25, FT 20-28, F 9. (3-pointers: Kesler 1. Fouled out: none.)

VALLE CATHOLIC (62) -- Daniel Bergtholdt 30, Conner Basler 13, Andrew Basler 10, Cole Wood 4, Tyler Uding 3Jacob Trautman 2. FG 23, FT 8-9, F 24. (3-pointers: C. Basler 3, Bergtholdt 1, Uding 1. Fouled out: none.)