Roundup — Oak Ridge tops Kelly in Day 1 of Scott-Mississippi Conference girls basketball tourney

OAK RIDGE — The No. 5 seed Oak Ridge Blue Jays defeated the No. 4 seed Kelly Hawks 49-47 in the first round of the tournament at Oak Ridge High School.

The Blue Jays had three players in double figures, led by Reagan Howe with 14 points and Madyson Ruehling and Kaeyln Deckerd with 12 each. Paige Klipfel and Kaylee Still led Kelly on offense with 12 points apiece.

The first half was all Oak Ridge, which capitalized on Kelly's mistakes, mainly too many turnovers and fouls. The Bluejays rebounded much better than the Hawks and led 26-15 at the half.

The second half started all Kelly as the Hawks exploded with a 7-0 run to shorten the lead to four. The teams traded baskets throughout the rest of the half but, ultimately, the Bluejays pulled out the win.

Oak Ridge head coach Julie Ward said it was a competitive battle and she was proud of how her team fought for the win.

“At the end, we just did a couple of little things right and that's what got us the win in this game. We turned the ball over a lot tonight, I think it was about 25 and, in the last minute, we turned it over again,” Ward said. “Our freshman, Kaeyln Deckerd came down and had a huge defensive stop, she got that steal and was able to hang onto the ball. It just goes to show you, my girls, they'll come out and they'll play hard for you, and they'll do the right things. We're just very fortunate to get that one today.”

Oak Ridge played top seed Chaffee on Monday, while Kelly gets a bye straight into the consolation championship at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Delta vs Charleston

The No. 2 seed Delta Bobcats defeated the No. 7 seed Charleston Blue Jays 93-21 in the first round of the tournament.

Delta had four players in double figures, led by Jade Berry with 28. Grace Ancell finished with 20, while Lillie Boitnott and Raelin Nanney had 17 and 11, respectively.

Charleston freshman Ver’Nisha Haynes was the offense for the Blue Jays as she scored all of their 21 points.

Delta had the game won from the jump as it scored first and never looked back, making it extremely difficult for Charleston to score or defend.

Bobcats head coach David Heeb said, despite the lopsided margin, there are still some things his team can learn from this game.

“We just talked about it in there. We've got good goals at the end of the year in the state tournament. When everything's not going our way, how are we gonna bounce back? How the team can adjust in the middle of the game?” Heeb said. “That's something these kids are still getting better at because they’re young. That's the biggest thing that we have to get better at moving forward. When we’re not at our very, very best, how can we reset in the middle of the game and find ourselves before the end of the game?”

Delta played No. 3 Scott County Central and Charleston played No. 6 Scott City, both on Monday.

Scott County Central vs Scott City

The No. 3 Scott County Central Braves defeated the Scott City Rams 51-45.

Scott County Central had three players in double figures, led by Camarie Perdue and Nikki Adams with 12 points each, followed by Madison Klaffer with 11.

Lilyan Landis led the offense of the Rams with 26 points.

The first quarter went in favor of the Braves with a couple of early 3s and fast-break layups, while Landis was the only source of offense for Scott City. The Rams held SCC to just two points in the second period to take a 24-19 halftime lead.

SCC opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a two-point lead, one it never relinquished.

The Braves managed to keep Scott City at bay and hit free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Scott County head coach Andrew Pullen said his team started well, but lost its way a little before finishing the game strong.

“I thought we started fast, and then we had a little lull in the second quarter. We came out and scored just two points in the second quarter,” Pullen said. “We got a little too comfortable in the offense and did not take what advantages we had. I thought we came out in the second half and got into our game plan. We were able to do what we needed to do to win.”