Scott County Central wins 105-77 against St. Elizabeth in sectional

PARK HILLS -- Otto Porter picked up his third personal foul less than halfway through the second quarter Tuesday night.

Scott County Central coach Ronnie Cookson voiced his displeasure with Porter in his patented high-intensity yell when the sophomore made it to the bench after being pulled from the game.

"I about killed him," Cookson said of the third foul. "I sure didn't want that to happen. But he's a really intelligent player and he knew what to do the second half. I told him two points ain't gonna hurt us none, but him sitting on the bench is gonna kill us."

Porter sat out the remainder of the first half, but returned to the court with a vengeance after halftime.

Porter scored 16 points in the third quarter as the Braves pulled away from St. Elizabeth in their Class 1 sectional boys basketball game. Scott County posted the 105-77 victory after the Hornets closed within one point with 6 minutes, 46 second left in the third quarter.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comScott County Central's Bobby Hatchett left, Otto Porter, Desmin Williams and Drew Porter watch the final 30 second of a Braves victory 105-77 over St. Elizabeth athe Class 1 state tournament at Tuesday night at Central in Park Hills.

That's when Porter went to work.

He attacked the basket, converting three traditional three-point plays.

"You have to go in there with confidence and try to make the bucket," Porter said. "You've got to go in there hard."

Porter went 6 of 6 from the field in the third quarter and finished with 20 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. He said Cookson did a little teaching after he picked up his third foul.

"He told me he needs me in the game, that I didn't need to pick up a foul," Porter said of Cookson. "If I get in foul trouble, it would be hard for the other guys to play. He just told me I had to play smarter in the second half."

From left, the Braves' Bobby Hatchett, Otto Porter, Desmin Williams and Drew Thomas watch the final 30 seconds of their 105-77 victory.

Porter didn't pick up his fourth personal foul until there was 3:31 left in the fourth quarter. The Braves led 97-68 at that point.

"He brings a lot of energy," Scott County senior Drew Thomas said of Porter. "It's a lot to pick up the slack when he's out."

Scott County (26-2) advanced to a state quarterfinal game Saturday against Eminence (25-2), ranked No. 4 in the final Class 1 regular-season poll. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff.

St. Elizabeth (24-4) closed to 51-50 when Caleb Heckemeyer hit a 3-pointer with 6:38 left in the third. The Braves responded by going on a 17-1 run over the next 3:05.

"We didn't get nervous," Scott County junior Bobby Hatchett said. "It happens. A lot of teams make their runs. We were looking for their run because we know they could shoot it. We knew they were a good team. So the second half we just played our usual game."

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comScott County Central's Bobby Hatchett drives for a basket during the first half of the Braves' Class 1 sectional game Tuesday against St. Elizabeth at Park Hills Central.

The Braves outscored the Hornets 34-13 in the third quarter. Scott County shot 62 percent from the floor (13 of 21), while St. Elizabeth hit 22 percent of its shots (5 of 23) in the third.

"It was hard-nosed man-to-man," Thomas said about the third-quarter turnaround. "That was the main thing, I think."

The Hornets stayed in the game with hot shooting from long range. They nailed seven 3-pointers in the first half, with four coming from Tyler Holtmeyer and three from Heckemeyer. Cookson said he switched to a man-to-man defense to try to slow down St. Elizabeth's 3-point shooters.

The move worked as the Hornets shot 20 percent (5 of 20) in the second half compared to 41 percent in the first half.

"You can't leave nobody open," said Thomas, who finished with a game-high 32 points. "That's what great shooting teams do. You just have to go out there and check their shooters and hope they don't go in."

Scott County managed to push its lead to more than 30 points in the fourth quarter, which led to a running clock for parts of the final quarter. Hatchett, who scored 23 points to go with eight assists, said he was happy to earn the win after the Hornets forced the Braves to play an uncomfortable style at times during the game.

"Down south, they don't shoot that much," Hatchett said. "It's more of an inside game and defense game. But this game right here was more of an offensive game. That's why we put up 100 points."

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:St. Elizabeth25201319--77

Scott County29223420--105

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:ST. ELIZABETH (77) -- Caleb Heckemeyer 23, Trenton Holtmeyer 3, Tyler Holtmeyer 17, Chris Wilde 12, Caleb Kemna 10, Justin Kesel 13. FG 28, FT 9-17, F 23. (3-pointers: C. Heckemeyer 6, Holtmeyer 5, T. Heckemeyer 1. Fouled out: Holtmeyer, Wilde)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (105) -- Bobby Hatchett 23, Desmin Williams 18, Drew Thomas 32, Randy Timmons 6, Chris Blissett 6, Otto Porter 20. FG 38, FT 24-31, F 14. (3-pointers: Thomas 2, Blissett 1. Fouled out: None)