SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL PULLS OFF MAJOR UPSET BY NIPPING PORTAGEVILLE

MORLEY -- Scott County Central High's boys basketball team pulled off the upset of the night around Southeast Missouri Friday when the host Braves stunned state-ranked Portageville 67-63.

The Braves improved to 7-4 while the Bulldogs, ranked fifth in Class 2A, fell to 9-3.

"It's a great win for us," said Scott Central's first-year coach, Steve Wells. "The kids really wanted to play well, and they played hard. They just decided they weren't going to lose."

Jreece Johnson, the Braves' sensational 5-foot-11 senior who is averaging 31.4 points per game, poured in 31 points to lead the victory. But Johnson was certainly not a one-man show.

Todd Blissett added 14 points for Scott Central and several other players contributed.

William Durden paced Portageville with 27 points and Charlie Caldwell added 15.

Scott Central led 38-27 at halftime, but Blissett sprained an ankle late in the first half. Then early in the third quarter, starter Nick Wheeler went down with a sprained ankle.

Portageville outscored Scott Central 16-7 in the third period to pull within 45-43 and the Bulldogs actually grabbed a one-point lead in the closing moments before the Braves surged back ahead for good.

"We weren't sure if Todd would be able to come back in again after he sprained his ankle, and Nick never returned after he sprained his," explained Wells. "So we're playing with a couple of younger kids and Portageville is making a run. I go back to Todd to see if he could come back in and he did.

"Todd didn't jump as well as he normally does, but he really showed a lot of guts and played hard and well. He's one of the main reasons we were able to pull this game out, along with a lot of other people."

Dexter 67, Woodland 45

MARBLE HILL -- Dexter, ranked sixth in the state in Class 3A, outscored Woodland 24-10 in the fourth quarter to pull away from a game Cardinal squad.

Guard Brett Hale scored a game-high 28 points for Dexter, which is now 11-0.

C.W. Stacy and Jason Greer finished with 13 points apiece for Woodland (5-6) while Jared Houchins added 11.

Woodland trailed 43-35 at the start of the fourth quarter and cut the lead to four points before Dexter pulled away.

"Dexter is an excellent team," said Woodland coach Jennings Wilkinson. "Actually we played pretty well."

Hillsboro 70, St. Vincent 65

PERRYVILLE -- St. Vincent battled a much larger school on even terms much of the way before suffering its third straight loss.

Gabe Hotop had a huge game for the Indians (6-4), pouring in 31 points. Todd Meyer scored 10 and Cory Strattman had 10 assists.

Hillsboro (10-3) was led by Matt Hicks and Doug Watts with 18 points each.

"It was a good game but we just fell a little short," said St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy.

St. Pius 67, Perryville 60 OT

HILLSBORO -- St. Pius outscored Perryville 8-1 in overtime as it handed the Pirates a loss in their Jefferson County Conference opener.

St. Pius scored six of its eight points in overtime at the free-throw line.

Ryan Wichern scored a game-high 23 points for Perryville (2-6, 0-1) and Michael Downen added 12.

Jordan Underwood paced St. Pius with 16 points.

Perryville led 28-24 at halftime and was ahead by eight points in the third quarter before St. Pius mounted a comeback. The Pirates took a 48-45 lead into the fourth quarter, which ended with the teams knotted at 59-59.

Leopold 68, Oak Ridge 35

LEOPOLD -- Leopold improved to 9-4 by posting an easy victory.

Jason Van de Ven paced the Wildcats with 24 points as he hit five 3-pointers. Ashton James added 15 points.

Double-figure scorers for Oak Ridge were Beau Morrison with 12 points and Adam Hahs with 11.

The Wildcats led 35-23 at halftime and broke things wide open with a 28-9 third-quarter edge.

Oran 70, Meadow Heights 49

ORAN -- Playing its first game since the University High Christmas Tournament, Oran pulled away from Meadow Heights in the second half.

The Eagles (6-4) led just 29-26 at halftime, then outscored the Panthers 17-12 and 24-11 over the final two quarters.

Philip Seyer paced the Eagles with 15 points. Following close behind were Adam Friga with 14, Eric Spies with 12 and Andy Gadberry with 11.

Cody Thompson led the Panthers with 13 points.

Bell City 74, Richland 66

BELL CITY -- Quite literally, Bell City's Nathan Walter took charge as the Cubs notched their second straight win.

Walter, who finished with a game-high 29 points and pulled own 12 rebounds, took a charging call early in the second quarter that seemed to inspire the entire Bell City team, which outscored Richland 28-16 in that period.

"It took us a little while to get going," said Bell City coach Jeff Funston. "The momentum seemed to change after that call against Nate and everything started clicking."

Gabe Scherer added 21 points for the Bell City (3-7), while Eric Henry added 14.

Richland's Sherome Cole led the way for Richland, netting 23.

Delta 72, Zalma 56

DELTA -- Despite hitting just 10 of 33 free throws, Delta was able to post a relatively comfortable victory.

The Bobcats (4-6) got 19 points from Josh Altenthal, 16 from Troy Nussbaum and 13 from Allen Rhodes.

Zalma was paced by Jason Means with 22 points. Chris Canoy added 14.

Delta trailed 16-10 after one quarter but outscored Zalma 24-6 in the second period to lead 34-22 at halftime.