Scott County gains separation from field

There was Scott County Central, and there was everybody else.

In more ways than one.

The top-seeded Braves cruised to the championship of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament title in impressive fashion, leaving an impressed string of victims, as they have all season in a 10-1 start.

On Tuesday night it was Notre Dame, the Class 4 defending state champions who have run through a juggernaut of a schedule to open 2008-09.

"I thought we played hard," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said. "We just have to limit our turnovers a little more and I thought we could have played with them.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comScott County's Alan Timmons celebrates after Tuesday's win over Notre Dame.

"We did make, I guess, a 17-0 run or something to cut it 10, so I thought we played well."

The run actually was 16-1 to trim a 25-point deficit to 10 in the fourth quarter, giving Notre Dame some consolation in losing what turned out to be an 18-point decision, 80-62.

For a moment, the gap was not as large as it has been between Scott County Central and the field in the 2008 Christmas Tournament.

For the first three days, it was all but a given that the Braves were going to take this title -- their first since 1990, when the Class 1 state title juggernaut was up and running.

In fact, they spent the first three days playing the game on another level, in another gear. They throttled Delta 88-24, they spanked Kelly 81-37 in the second meeting of the season and they turned the anticipated showdown with Charleston into a laugher by halftime en route to an 87-55 win.

"They are a lot better than I expected," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. "They are the best team we've played. We play good man-to-man defense and we couldn't guard them man-to-man. They are a great team.

"I knew they were good, but I didn't realize how good until we stepped on the floor and played with them. They pass the ball so well and they're so quick."

The win against Notre Dame, with 5-foot-10 guard Bobby Hatchett dunking for the last basket, gave the Braves a clean run of 80-point games.

Only one other team could manage to score 80 points in a game, and it was Kelly in an 80-61 win against Meadow Heights.

The rest of the tournament was offensively challenged by comparison, with an average score of 62.2 for the winning teams and 46.5 for the losing teams through the first three days in the 19 games not involving Scott County Central.

Braves senior guard Drew Thomas led all scorers with 122 points, 46 points more than anyone else in the field, while Hatchett and Porter also averaged in double figures.

The Braves' 57 points in a near-flawless first half Monday against Charleston were more than the entire-game total for 23 losing teams in 26 tournament games -- and nine of the 22 winning totals by teams other than the Braves.

"I thought Charleston would be able to give them a pretty good matchup, but Scott County is just a good team," Advance senior David VanGennip said. "It's something to watch. Pretty enjoyable."

Scott County Central's offensive attack often is started by its pressure defense.

Kelly coach Nathan Wills likened the Braves' press to Chinese fingercuffs -- the harder you work to break it, the more trouble you get into. You can't prepare for it, he said, because the Braves just play rather than playing position.

Coaches seemed willing to patiently use all 10 seconds in the backcourt and risk the violation rather than giving the Braves a fast break. But nothing worked this week.

"They closed lanes off faster than I've ever seen anybody," Notre Dame senior Austin Greer said. "You can't throw a pass in there hardly ever at all."

"It's hard to simulate the kind of pressure they put on you," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said.

Scott County Central may be the only team to come out of this field with a top seed in its district tournament, and the Braves are a favorite to reach Columbia for the final four and try to finish the business left undone last season, when they settled for third after losing the semifinal to perennial power Jefferson.

"If they don't win state in their class," Greer said, "something's wrong."

Noted Farmer: "The only team that can beat them is themselves."

Toby Carrig is editor of the regional Web site semoball.com