Scott County Central boys rally past Bernie to win district title

By Jeff Breer

Southeast Missourian

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- In scientific terms, Scott County Central junior Jeffery Porter spent much of the second quarter of the Class 2 District 1 championship game as potential energy.

Porter sat planted on the Braves bench near coach Frank Staple with five points and two fouls. He was just another spectator at Bloomfield High School, watching his teammates muster just four points of offense over the final 5 minutes, 21 seconds of the half. It was part of a dismal six-point quarter for the top-seeded Braves, who went into the locker room with just 20 points and trailing second-seeded Bernie by 13.

"I can't do nothing to help my team," said Porter, the team's top scorer on the season, about the helpless feeling. "I tried to encourage them from the bench. It was frustrating that I couldn't be out there with my team trying to battle."

When the Braves emerged from the break, it didn't take long for the potential energy to be converted into points.

By the end of the third quarter, Staple was on the court with his bench players bursting with excitement, holding the between-quarter huddle near the spot where Porter topped a 22-point personal outburst with a 3-point shot from the top of the key at the buzzer. The basket also served to vault SCC its first lead since early in the game.

It was all part of a 34-point second half for Porter, who finished with 39 points to lead the Braves to a 73-63 victory and into Wednesday's quarterfinals.

He scored his first basket 45 seconds into the period, on the Braves' second possession, and never relented.

The 6-foot-2 guard, the younger brother of former SCC great Otto Porter Jr., the third player chosen in the 2013 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, and son of former SCC great and Southeast Missouri State star Otto Porter Sr., went into full, unstoppable Porter mode.

"He's our playmaker," senior forward Matthew Blissett said. "He's the guy we look to when we need some buckets."

After the Braves had shot just 8 of 22 from the field in the first half, Porter personally went 10 of 13 in the third quarter -- one of his misses was cleaned up by his own put back -- in racking up 22 points. His baskets came on an assortment of drives along the baseline and through the lane, as well as from behind the arc, as he heeded the advice of his coach.

"He said be aggressive and I needed to be aggressive and assert myself on the court," Porter said about Staple's halftime message. "That second half we were down 13, I needed to come out and make a statement and show everybody that we are here ready to play."

Staple said he sometimes has to nudge Porter into being a more dominant force.

"He's very capable of doing that every game," Staple said. "And sometimes Jeffery is not as aggressive as we want him to be because he's such a team player, a little too unselfish at times."

The Braves also turned up their overall aggressiveness with a full-court press, which resulted in seven turnovers in the quarter by the Mules (22-6), who committed just five the entire first half.

"The pressure made the difference, and we haven't been able to do that a lot this year because we only play about six kids," Staple said. "We have a really thin bench, so we kind of had to adjust the way we play, but it worked for us tonight and we survived and advanced."

SCC still trailed by 10 points after Bernie senior Caleb Ellenburg scored on a 15-footer to put the Mules ahead 48-38 with 2 minutes, 26 seconds left in the third quarter, but the Braves scored the final 13 points of the quarter.

Senior guard Drake Kesler started the run with the Braves' first 3-pointer of the game -- they had missed their first eight attempts -- and Porter followed with 10 points in the final 71 seconds of the period with three drives to the basket and the 3-pointer.

"He just really attacked us in the second half, and we had no answer for him," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said. "We were able to control their possessions and his touches in the first half because we could hold the ball. But once they started trapping, we weren't able to hold the ball long enough and control the time of possession. They kept getting it back, and when they did, we weren't able to stop them."

The Braves extended the lead in the fourth quarter by hitting on 7 of 8 shots from the field and scoring on 12 of 13 possessions.

Porter hit 6 of 7 free throws in the final period in adding 12 points to his total.

Staple said he has high expectations for Porter, but they have nothing to do with his sibling.

"One thing we never do is compare him to his older brother," Staple said. "Jeffery is his own man, and he's really coming into his own. We needed for him to step up for us tonight, and he did that big time. Because of that we're moving on. I'm just really proud of Jeffery."

The Braves shot 78 percent in the second half, connecting on 21 of 27 shots, after shooting 36 percent against the Mules' zone defense in the first half.

The Mules had the hot hand in the first half, hitting on 13 of 17 attempts from the field. Ellenburg, who finished with a team-high 25 points, was held scoreless in the first quarter but it didn't prevent the Mules from holding the lead. Senior point guard Matt Vernon stepped in with 10 points in the first quarter, giving the Braves' man-to-man defense fits with his whirling moves and quick change of directions that repeatedly allowed him to penetrate the lane.

"He's a great player," Blissett said. "Matt Vernon, he's going to go far in his life. He works hard. It's an honor to be able to play with somebody like him."

Vernon finished with 14 points, while senior guard Brandon Sparks netted 18.

Bernie broke a 7-7 tie on a 3-pointer by Vernon and maintained a 17-14 after the first quarter.

Vernon was limited to just two points in the second quarter, but Ellenburg began to stir with six points and the Braves struggled on offense, hitting just 2 of 9 shots and committing five turnovers -- mostly with Porter on the bench. The Mules outscored the Braves 16-6 in the period and led 33-20 at the break.

"They absolutely dominated the first half, and we knew they were capable of doing that," Staple said. "They're a great team and they made us really play the way they wanted us to play in the first half. So when we went into halftime we just looked at each other and asked, 'Did we want it to end this way? We've got 16 more minutes, let's go make it happen.'"

SCC senior Javonta Daniel added 13 points for the Braves, who won their 12th consecutive district title, but their first in Class 2 since moving up after winning the Class 1 state championship last season.

"It's a little hard, we have bigger schools to play against, but we just need to stick to our game plan and do what we need to do," Blissett said about the change in class.

Noteworthy

• The Bloomfield gym had been kind to the Mules this season. They were 9-0 on the court before Friday, having won the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, the Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament and their first two games of the district tournament.
• Daniel said longtime scorebook keeper Jim Tyler was an inspiration for the victory.

"We have a man named Mr. Tyler -- he had a stroke," Daniel said. "We had to do it for him. He's been here for years, and we had to do it for him. He wanted us to come home with it, and we had to come home with it."

Scott County Central 73, Bernie 63

Bernie 17 16 15 15 -- 63

Scott County 14 6 31 22 -- 73

BERNIE (63) -- Matt Vernon 14, Brandon Sparks 18, Caleb Ellenburg 25, Devin Trammel 4, Garin Smith 2. FG 25, FT 11-12, F 19 (3-pointers: Vernon, Sparks. Fouled out: Vernon)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (73) -- Drake Kesler 5, Tyus Banks 2, Jeffery Porter 39, Trevion Moore 8, Javonta Daniel 13, Matthew Blissett 6. FG 29, FT 12-19, F 15 (3-pointers: Kesler, Porter, Moore. Fouled out: none)