Scott County Central boys run district basketball title streak to 11

~ Scott County Central continued its reign in Class 1 District 2 with a 64-62 win over Leopold

DELTA -- Scott County Central senior guard Juwan Owens never had lost a district championship game in his high school career, and he didn't want that streak to end.

After checking back into Thursday night's Class 1 District 2 championship game with 3 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and his Braves trailing Leopold 58-54, Owens implored his teammates with shouts of "Come on! Come on!" -- each time exclamating his exhortation with both fists chopping downward.

His teammates listened. Moments later, with the score knotted at 62-62, Scott County Central senior guard Larandis Banks received an outlet pass at midcourt, dribbled into the lane and scored the go-ahead basket -- two of his game-high 38 points -- that gave the Braves a 64-62 lead.

And when Leopold senior Andy McWilliams' 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the front rim, Scott County Central (22-5) claimed its 11th straight Class 1 district title and advanced to next week's sectional.

"That was a battle," an exhausted Scott County Central coach Frank Staple said after the game. "With all due respect to Leopold, I knew it was gonna be a battle. I knew they were good. I thought they showed a lot of character, and I thought we showed a lot of character. That was just an excellent high school basketball game."

Few in the crowd that packed the Delta High School gymnasium would disagree. Banks' driving layup gave Scott County Central a 49-43 lead moments into the final period, but Leopold's Cameron Davis scored seven points in a 10-0 run that put the Wildcats up 55-49. A layin by Leopold sophomore center Zach Beel made it 58-54 with 3:54 left, and Owens had seen enough.

"I was just trying to keep them pumped up so we could go out there and get the win," Owens said. "It looked like they were kind of asleep out there, so I just had to get them ready."

One Braves player that got the message was sophomore Jeffrey Porter, who had been held scoreless until scoring on a driving layup moments before Owens re-entered the game. Porter hit four consecutive free throws to tie the score 58-58, then scored on a drive that again knotted the game at 60-60.

"I had to wake up and play," said Porter, who finished the game with eight points. "If I didn't, we were probably going lose the game, and I didn't want to end our season yet."

Davis, who led Leopold with 26 points, hit a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line to put the Wildcats up 62-60, but the Braves' Kendall Blissett tied the score with a pair of free throws at the 1:36 mark.

Both teams had chances to go ahead in the final minute but either missed shots or turned the ball over. After Leopold senior Dillan Vendeven missed a short jumper, Blissett came down with the rebound and fired a pass to Banks near halfcourt, who drove the lane for the game-winning shot.

"It was all thanks to Kendall," Banks said. "He was battling all night. "He got us the key play, he was able to kick it out to me, and I finished the play."

Staple praised the way Banks put the Braves on his shoulders throughout the game. The Braves' senior guard had 20 points in the first half.

"He's had that look since districts started," Staple said. "He kind of put us on his shoulders tonight and got us the victory."

Even after Banks' heroics, Staple and Braves had to weather McWillilams' shot, which was right on line but came up just short.

"It looked good," Staple said. "I just went numb -- I'm still kinda numb -- but, man, what a battle. That was a good look, and we were fortunate to grab the rebound and come away with that win."

For Leopold, it was another shocking end to a successful season. Last season, the Wildcats earned the top seed in the district but fell to the Braves in the final. This year, Leopold came in seeded second but again couldn't quite get over the hump and finished the season 21-4.

"It was there," Leopold coach Andy Beck said. "It was there all night long. Our game plan was perfect. The kids executed everything we talked about, everything we had planned out. A rebound here or there, a loose ball here or there, a free throw here or there, it's our game."

Not many people expected Leopold to be in this position after losing seven seniors -- including Southeast Missourian Player of the Year Kyle Stroder -- from last year's squad.

"Our guys wanted it bad, and it's tough," Beck said.

Leopold 15 17 11 19 -- 62

SCC 18 12 17 17 -- 64

LEOPOLD (62) -- Austin Bucher 8, Dillan Vandeven 3, Zachary Elfrink 4, Cameron Davis 26, Zach Beel 13, Wesley Stoverink 8. FG: 27. FT: 7-20. Total fouls: 20. (3-pointers: Bucher 1. Fouled out: none.)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (64) -- Juwan Owens 4, Larandis Banks 38, Jeffrey Porter 8, Kendall Blissett 4, Javonta Daniel 4, Cameron Blissett 4, Matthew blissett 2. FG: 23. FT: 14-24. Total fouls: 14. (3-pointers: Banks 4. Fouled out: Daniel.)