Scott County's defense fails to impress Wright

~ Scott County dumped Oran 72-35 for the Scott-Miss title

SCOTT CITY -- Kenyon Wright didn't like his team's defense Friday night.

"Our defense wasn't good at all if you ask me," Scott County Central's boys basketball coach said. "We weren't committing to the press. They've got to get up and commit and trap and get all over it."

The Braves posted the 72-35 victory and forced Oran to turn over the ball 28 times. But Wright didn't let a 37-point victory cloud his assessment. He needs to see more tenacity from his defense.

"They know what we want," Wright said. "They've been around long enough to know they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing. They are things we have to fix."

Scott County Central's Otto Porter, left, and Calvin Porter swarm Oran's Nathan Michelsen during Friday's title game of the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament. (LAURA SIMON)

The Braves captured the Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament crown with Friday's win, but the team's goals are loftier. It wants to repeat as Class 1 state champions, and it knows its defense will be the key.

"We got to keep going hard, keep learning," Braves senior Bobby Hatchett said. "We've got a lot of young kids who played JV. Guys that have been there and done that show by example and they'll pick it up. They work pretty hard. We help each other out. We just have to keep going hard."

The Braves picked up their defensive intensity after Wright expressed his displeasure at halftime.

"We just didn't move," Braves junior Otto Porter said. "We just didn't put enough pressure on the ball. We weren't moving at all. We had to pick it up in the second half."

Oran coach Joe Shoemaker said his team tried to use constant motion to combat the Braves' trapping defense.

Scott County Central's John Rhoden, left, reaches the rebound before Oran's Jon Morrow Friday, January 22, 2010 during the championship game of the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament in Scott City. (LAURA SIMON)

"We just tried to get some spacing and movement without the basketball," he said. "If you just get space and stand there, they're quick enough and smart enough they'll take it away."

But Shoemaker pointed out that Porter makes the Braves' defense incredibly difficult to penetrate. He said that the 6-foot-8 forward uses his length to stymie the opposition's offense.

"He's almost playing two positions at once," Shoemaker said of Porter. "He's pinching the middle so you can't get a pass into the middle. It looks like the sideline is open. As soon as you put the ball on the floor and go, he's got you trapped. With his long arms, it makes it very difficult on a guy. Then Bobby's on the other side with his quickness. It's tough."

The Braves quickly pulled away and erased any doubt Friday. They scored the first seven points of the game and used a 7-0 run to begin the second quarter as they padded their lead.

"We missed a bunch of open jump shots," Shoemaker said. "If you want to compete with a team like that, you've got to hit open shots and we didn't do a good job of that offensively."

The Eagles (11-5) shot 35 percent from the field in the opening half, while the Braves connected on 53 percent of their shots to open a 45-22 lead at the intermission. Porter led the Braves with 17 first-half points and went 7 of 9 (78 percent) from the field.

The Braves locked down the Eagles defensively in the third quarter, holding Oran to six points on 3 of 13 shooting (23 percent).

The Braves didn't plan to savor Friday's win for long. They host Notre Dame on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 6 in Class 4.

"You always see where you at when you play good teams," Hatchett said. "That's always good. We're looking forward to it. We're going to have a couple good practices and get ready for it."

The game will feature a matchup between two of the premier big men in the area -- Porter and Notre Dame's Jacob Tolbert, who is 6-7. Both juniors are garnering attention from Division I programs, and Porter said he's ready for the challenge.

"We're just going to try to contain him as much as we can because we know he likes to play inside and outside," Porter said. "We just have to watch him at all times and hopefully slow him down."

Tuesday's game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Scott County Central High School.

Oran 11 11 6 7 -- 35

Scott County 23 22 20 7 -- 72

ORAN (35) -- Gabe Kielhofner 5, Nathan Mickelsen 5, Reece Mangels 8, Jon Morrow 10, Zac Chasteen 2, Dylan Adams 2, Blake Henson 1, Caleb Priggel 2. FG 14, FT 3-9, F 16. (3-pointers: Mangels 2, Kielhofner 1, Michelsen 1. Fouled out: none)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (72) -- Bobby Hatchett 14, Trey Johnson 8, Otto Porter 26, Bryan Freed 8, John Rhoden 4, Dominique Porter 5, Charles McClinton 4, Blake Pobst 3. FG 28, FT 13-23, F 13. (3-pointers: Hatchett 1, Freed 2. Fouled out: none)