Scott County Central romps to Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament title

Otto Porter lived up to the hype in his final high school game on the Show Me Center floor.

The Scott County Central senior scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Braves to their third consecutive Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament title Thursday.

SCC never trailed on their way to the 75-34 victory against Jackson.

"It was special," Porter said. "It's my senior year. There's a lot of us on the team, our senior year. We just had it in our mind we was going to win it this year so that's what we did."

Porter proved unstoppable in the third quarter when the Braves erased any doubt about the outcome. The 6-foot-9 senior scored 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting (75 percent).

"He likes to get out there and give it his all all the time, and it shows," SCC coach Kenyon Wright said. "He works on his game a lot. He's a great kid. He's just a special one."

One play midway through the third quarter epitomized Porter's night. He recorded a steal on the defensive end then dribbled the length of the court and attacked the basket. He got knocked to the floor to earn a foul as he sank the shot. He quickly popped up and sank his free throw for the conventional three-point play.

Porter finished with eight steals and four assists.

"We just tried to contain him but it didn't really work out that way," Jackson senior Bobby Clark said about Porter. "It's tough. When you get him in the half court, he's still good, but it takes him down a lot. But the pace they play at, it's just unbelievable. He played all four quarters and he was just as fast in the fourth quarter as he was in the first."

The Indians never found an answer for the Braves' swarming defense. Jackson committed 27 turnovers in the first three quarters, which led to numerous easy baskets in transition for the Braves.

"If you can not give up layups and turnovers against them and not give up second shots, you've got a shot to compete," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "The key is doing that."

The Braves' shooting percentage reflected the many baskets in transition. SCC shot 56 percent (33 of 59) from the floor.

"If you can get easy buckets, you can get layups, our percentages goes through the roof when you get layups," Wright said. "Whenever you're able to do that, it helps. Tonight I thought we finished better than we did all week long."

SCC scored the first six points but Jackson answered with five to cut the Braves' lead to one, bringing the Indians cheering section to life. But SCC then reeled off a 15-1 run to take control. Jackson never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way, and the fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

"That's the only team I've ever played that plays at a pace like," Clark said. "They played at an unbelievable pace all night."