Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Banked 3-pointer helps Scott City edge Oran in Day 1 finale

It had been exactly two weeks since the Scott City and Oran boys basketball teams had first faced off, with the Rams winning by 17 points.

Scott City's Dylan Keller takes a shot between Oran's Garrison Mangels, left, and Hunter Schlosser during the fourth quarter of a first-round game in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Friday, Dec. 26, 2014 at the Show Me Center. (FRED LYNCH)

Scott City coach Mark Dannenmueller knew the second time around wouldn't be quite as easy when they met again in the opening round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament Friday night at the Show Me Center.

The second meeting came down to the closing seconds, and Dannenmueller felt fortunate that his eighth-seeded team was able to claim a 54-52 win over the ninth-seeded Eagles.

"I just didn't think we accepted a challenge," Dannenmueller said. "We knew it was going to be tough, coaching against Joe [Shoemaker] two weeks after we just beat them. We knew it was going to be extremely tough because he's a great coach and a great program. We knew it wasn't going to be easy and we tried warning them, and I thought we still came out and just didn't have a sense of urgency. I didn't think we competed hard enough, but like I told them, you don't play well and you still find a way -- that's a good sign."

Dannenmueller didn't think his team was as "tough" as Oran throughout most of the game, but saw that change when it was most needed.

The Rams held a 37-33 lead heading into the final eight minutes of the contest, but Oran used a 6-0 run to regain a two-point lead with 6 minutes, 8 second remaining.

The Eagles took a five-point lead twice in that quarter, at 44-39 and then 49-44 with 2:53 left on a conventional three-point play by sophomore Max Priggel.

Scott City used a 6-1 run that was capped with a goaltending call on Oran to knot it at 50 with 1:34 left.

Oran senior Hunter Schlosser scored on a putback on the next possession to regain the lead, but sophomore Dylan Keller banked in a 3-pointer, his fifth three of the game, with 37.4 seconds left to put the Rams up 53-52.

Scott City's Trent Pobst takes a shot as Oran's Max Priggel defends during the fourth quarter of a first-round game in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Friday, Dec. 26, 2014 at the Show Me Center. (FRED LYNCH)

"He came up and gave me a little bit of space, so I thought maybe I could hit it," said Keller, who finished with a game-high 21 points.

The Eagles had a chance to tie or take the lead when Max Priggel was fouled with 11.2 seconds left, but he missed both free-throw attempts short.

Keller was fouled and made the second of a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left, and Oran got a shot off in the paint in the closing seconds but missed.

"It took a lot of mental toughness in that fourth quarter," Dannenmueller said. "We were down 49-44 with three minutes to go and we could've gave up. We had one of our starters foul out. We had another starter with four fouls. We already are one player short because [Jordan Kluesner's] out of town. We had every reason to kind of give up, but I thought we showed a lot of mental toughness in that fourth quarter, I really did. Like I said, we made just enough plays, so I was proud of them for stepping up enough in the fourth quarter."

Shoemaker let his players know that he wasn't as displeased with the final minute of the game as he was with errors they'd made or plays they hadn't made earlier.

"I told him, you know, everybody's going to remember the last couple plays, but it's the plays before that -- the 50-50 balls we didn't come up with, the rebounds, the turnovers are the things that I was disappointed in, not necessarily free throws," Shoemaker said of Max Priggel's missed free throws. "No one intentionally misses a shot, so we weren't worried about that, but those other things."

Oran, which led by three points at the end of the first quarter and at halftime, led by as many as seven points with 2:20 left in the third quarter.

Oran's Jacob Priggel looks to pass as Scott City's Trent Pobst defends during the third quarter of a first-round game in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Friday, Dec. 26, 2014 at the Show Me Center. (FRED LYNCH)

The Eagles took a 33-26 lead on a 3-pointer by Schlosser, who finished with 20 points, but four free throws by Scott City over the next minute made it a three-point game.

Sophomore Braden Cox then scored six points in the final 52 seconds of the third quarter to give the Rams their first lead of the second half.

Cox made a basket with five seconds left following an Oran turnover to take a one-point lead and then Eagles senior Jacob Priggel stepped out of bounds with 1.1 second left in the quarter.

Cox knocked down a 3-pointer off the Rams' sideline out of bounds play as the buzzer sounded to give Scott City a 37-35 lead, a play that Shoemaker said "kind of stings."

"I was supposed to hand the ball off, but it was a jumbled play," said Cox, who scored nine of his 14 points in the third quarter. "I saw the clock and I had to turn around and shoot it, and obviously I made it. Luckily."

Cox said that Oran did a better job of controlling the tempo throughout parts of the game, which was one reason Friday's matchup was much closer.

Shoemaker wanted his players to slow down at times to stay in control because he knew they'd need to limit their turnovers to beat the Rams, and while he did think his players did better it's still not as good as he thinks it needs to be.

"It's an improvement, but we're not doing it consistently," Shoemaker said, adding that rebounding and coming up with loose balls wasn't quite good enough. "Until we get to doing it consistently every trip we're not going to be a good basketball team, in my opinion."

Oran fell to 4-3 while Scott City improved to 6-1.

"Ugly," Dannenmueller said. "We didn't play well at all. I guess we made just enough plays. We hit a few shots, but it just wasn't very pretty. But it feels good to win. It feels good to not play well and still find a way."

Oran 8 16 9 19 -- 52

Scott City 5 16 16 17 -- 54

ORAN (52) -- Max Priggel 11, Jacob Priggel 13, Eric Westrich 2, Hunter Schlosser 20, Garrison Mangels 6. FG 20, FT 10-16, F 9 (3-pointers: M. Priggel, Schlosser. Fouled out: none.)

SCOTT CITY (54) -- Dylan Keller 21, Trent Pobst 9, Nick Bickings 6, Isiah Berry 4, Braden Cox 14. FG 19, FT 8-15, F 20 (3-pointers: Keller 5, Bickings 2, Cox. Fouled out: Bickings, Berry.)