Scott County Central boys basketball team to face familiar foe in today's semifinal

MORLEY, Mo. -- Scott County Central will try to make it two state championships in the 63801 ZIP code.

Sikeston already captured the Class 4 title, and now the Braves will try to defend their Class 1 state title.

"That's big not just for this school and this area, but all Southeast Missouri, for multiple teams to go up to state and win state championships," SCC senior Stewart Johnson said. "It's big for this area in Southeast Missouri. It just goes to show all the talent you have in this area."

A familiar foe stands in SCC's way. The Braves will face Jefferson in today's noon semifinal at Mizzou Arena. Jefferson is the last team to defeat SCC in a state playoff game, a 70-68 state semifinal win in 2008.

"They're definitely one of those teams that make it there a lot, especially in the last decade," SCC coach Kenyon Wright said. "They use the same kind of game plan that we use. They pressure the ball. They play man-to-man pressure defense and try to make you turn the ball over and score off their defense."

Scott County Central's Otto Porter dunks during Saturday's Class 1 quarterfinal. (Fred Lynch)

Jefferson won three consecutive state titles from 2006 to 2008, a run that ended when SCC won the school's 13th state crown. SCC added its 14th title last year.

The Eagles have reached the final four six times since 2000 and won the state title four times.

"We're going to have to go up there and adjust to the officiating and adjust to what they're doing against us and play hard and play smart," Wright said. "They know that everyone in the state is gunning for them. They've known it for two years."

This will be the fourth consecutive trip to the final four for the Braves, while Jefferson last reached it in 2008.

"We've been there and we know what we have to do," SCC senior Calvin Porter said. "We just have to go there and do it again. We lost a couple people of course, but we just have to work with what we have and go at it."

The Braves hope their schedule helped prepare them for a third state title. Both of the Braves' losses came against teams from other states. They dropped their season opener to North Little Rock, which reached the state quarterfinals in Arkansas' largest school division. The other loss came to Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, which is ranked No. 12 in the latest USA Today national rankings.

"I've tried to put these guys through a lot of tough competition and a lot of tough teams and push them through it," Wright said. "They've done a good job of responding. Hopefully that helps here in the playoff time. It helped last year in the playoffs and playing against the teams we played against last year."

SCC (27-2) has won 22 consecutive games entering today's semifinal.

Jefferson enters with a 26-3 record and riding a five-game winning streak.

"They've got some good guards who can handle the ball well," Wright said. "And they're extremely well-coached."

Senior guard Jacob Stoll leads the Eagles with 14.2 points per game. He's shooting 54 percent from the field. Junior Clayton Schieber, a 5-foot-11 forward, is averaging 13.1 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Wright said the key to today's game could be the guard play.

"We'll go in there and try to handle their pressure and they'll try to handle our pressure and we'll see who comes out on top," he said.

The tallest players listed on Jefferson's roster are a pair of 6-3 forwards, including senior center Colton Holtman.

SCC's best-known player is star forward Otto Porter, who pulled down 35 rebounds in last year's state title game. Those 35 rebounds broke the final four record, which his father set in 1976.

The 6-9 Porter is averaging 29.9 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. He's shooting 76 percent from the field this season.

Porter has received a boost from senior guard Stewart Johnson, who has scored 47 points over the Braves' last two games. Johnson averages 13 points per game.

The winner of today's semifinal will play the winner of Dadeville (29-1) vs. LaPlata (30-0) in Saturday's 11:30 a.m. state title game.

The losers of today's semifinals will play for third play at noon Friday.