Sophomore shines for Leopold in tourney win

The last time Leopold and Oak Ridge met it was on Dec. 4 with a stake in the Woodland Tournament final on the line.

The Wildcats won that semifinal 52-50 on a late 3-pointer.

This time around, they needed no such heroics.

Thank you Zach Beel and Cameron Davis.

The duo combined for 42 of Leopold's 65 points in a 65-55 win over Oak Ridge in the opening round of the Southeast Missouri Christmas Tournament on Thursday.

For Beel, a 6-foot-6 sophomore playing his first varsity season, the game may have been his coming out party.

For Davis, a senior guard playing in his fourth varsity season, it was just another Christmas Tournament celebration.

Leopold will face top-ranked Jackson today at 4:30 p.m. while Oak Ridge will face No. 16 Delta at 1:30 p.m.

The sophomore put on quite the show against the Blue Jays.

Beel had 26 points and consistently cleaned up the glass for a Leopold team without much size.

Leopold’s Cameron Davis attempts a dunk in the fourth quarter of the Wildcats game against the Oak Ridge Blue Jays in the first round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Thursday at the Show Me Center. (Laura Simon)

"The shots were falling," said the soft-spoken Beel. "No matter what, just keep shooting."

His coach, Andy Beck, was much more pleased.

Oak Ridge’s Ryan Below goes up for a shot in front of Leopold’s Zach Beel in the third quarter of their game in the first round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Thursday at the Show Me Center. (Laura Simon)

"Beel's really good," Beck said. "He's averaging a double-double. He had a game where he had 19 rebounds the other night against a pretty good team. He's coming along. He's really holding his own. He's learning to control his body and play within himself and kind of let the game come to him and instead of trying to do too much. He's improving every day. He impresses me every single day. He's really attacking the basket well, which is a little bit different than the last couple of games."

Davis controlled the perimeter while Beel roamed the paint.

The duo combined for a deadly combination against an Oak Ridge team that failed to completely go away thanks to the long ball.

Leopold jumped out to a 13-4 lead thanks to a quick four points each from Davis and Beel.

The Wildcats led 15-10 after the first quarter and Beel took over in the second.

The sophomore netted nine points in the quarter and shot a perfect 4 of 4 from the field.

Davis chipped in six, including one of his three dunks on the night.

"I think when I do that it gets the team more pumped up," Davis said of his dunks. "It gets the crowd involved into it, so that pumps our team up when the crowds are involved."

The Blue Jays never fell more than 14 points behind in the first half and closed the halftime lead to 35-25 on 3-pointers by Kelby Brown and Andrew Puchbauer and a late basket by Jake LeGrand.

"I thought we had control from tip to finish for the most part, except for those couple threes they hit right before the half," Beck said.

Oak Ridge stayed in the game mainly thanks to LeGrand.

The senior guard was sensational in the opening half, netting 12 of his team-high 22 points, including two treys.

The Blue Jays sputtered a bit in the third quarter, yet they only trailed 48-35 with seconds remaining in the third when Parker Brown nailed a 29-footer at the buzzer to make it a 16-point deficit.

Fittingly, Brown was the hero back on Dec. 4 when he drained a late 3-pointer to win the game.

"We played our defense a lot better," Davis said. "We contributed a lot better on offense and defense."

Oak Ridge's star, senior Ryan Below, scored 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half while the Blue Jays were playing catch-up.

Oak Ridge managed to put one last scare in the Wildcats, closing to 58-47 on a LeGrand 3-pointer late in the fourth, but Leopold thwarted any hope with an Austin Bucher conventional 3-point play with 1 minute, 47 seconds remaining.

"We did the same thing when we played them [previously]," Beck said. "We came out and got a lead, and tonight it was about protecting our lead. We talked about it numerous times. If you let them hang around, with the way they shoot the ball and with Below out there, they're a tough team. If you let them hang around, they're going to hurt you in the end."

The Wildcats have their work cut out for them in the quarterfinals, facing a tall, tough and top-seeded Jackson squad.

"Be strong on the inside," Beel said of the matchup. "Box out, and do whatever I can on the post."

Oak Ridge 10 15 10 20 -- 55

Leopold 15 18 18 15 -- 65

OAK RIDGE (55) -- Andrew Puchbauer 3, Kelby Brown 9, Ryan Below 19, Jake LeGrand 22, Kolt Metje 2. FG 22, FT 4-6, F 13. (3-pointers: Puchbauer 1, Brown 3, LeGrand 3. Fouled out: none)

LEOPOLD (65) -- Parker Brown 3, Austin Bucher 12, Andrew McWilliams 4, Cameron Davis 16, Zach Beel 26, Wesley Stoverink 4. FG 27, FT 9-12, F 12. (3-pointers: Brown 1, Beel 1. Fouled out: none)