Slow-starting Steward shines again for Scott County Central

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The first few minutes of Thursday's Class 1 state semifinal probably felt pretty familiar to Scott County Central point guard LaMarcus Steward.

The senior got off to an inauspicious start just like in Saturday's quarterfinal win over Eminence.

Steward, who chided himself for turnovers early against Eminence, turned over the ball three times in the game's first six minutes and missed his first three shots against Glasglow on Thursday at the Hearnes Center.

Then just like against Eminence, he played spectacularly for the rest of the game.

"He's been big for us just stepping up as a senior and becoming that guy that, hey look, 'We've got to have you,'" SCC coach Kenyon Wright said.

Steward turned over the ball just once more in SCC's 78-48 victory and made 10 of his 13 shots the rest of the way, including 7 of 8 in the first half.

"Coach told me I've improved at doing more and being a guard, especially being a captain -- leading," Steward said.

He scored 16 points in the first half, the exact number he scored in the first half against Eminence.

"I think it's real important," Steward said about helping his team build early leads. "Because it keeps us going, gets us all going and helps our motivation."

Steward finished with a team-high 24 points. He added five assists, three rebounds and two steals.

"It was just calming the ball down, running our regular plays," Steward said about correcting the early mistakes. "I guess we got a little too excited."

Steward also played a role in forcing many of Glasgow's 27 turnovers as part of the SCC press.

"Coach told us to go out there and show them our style of ball," Steward said. "Our style is to run, defense, pressure -- everything."

Steward said he looks forward to feasting on unsuspecting opponents like the Glasgow players, who haven't played against the Braves' defense before.

"I think of it as getting ourselves together and showing them new things they haven't done," he said.

Steward played 10 minutes and scored three points in last season's state championship game. Senior teammate Dominique Porter was the only other Braves player who saw action in that game. Porter scored 18 points in 26 minutes in last year's title game.

"These two guys both have some experience with state championships in the last couple years, but these are the only two," Wright said. "The other ones haven't had any experience on the floor."

Steward's role is much bigger this year. He didn't leave Thursday's game until the clock was running in the fourth quarter thanks to the Braves' 32-point lead.

"I was a little nervous, but I was basically getting ready," Steward said about seeing significant minutes at the final four.

Now he and Porter are providing the examples for their teammates.

"These two guys that are seniors kind of stuck together and said we've got to take over the role when it comes to different things," Wright said. "If it happens to be scoring, it's scoring. If it's rebounding, it's rebounding. If it's defense, it's defense. They've got to step up and do their job and show these younger guys what it takes to do that."

Scott County Central guard LaMarcus Steward lunges for a loose ball during the Braves' 78-48 win over Glasgow in the class 1 semifinals Thursday in Columbia, Mo. Steward led the Braves with 24 points.