Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Scott County Central rallies past Charleston, into semis

The fourth-seeded Scott County Central boys basketball team had already overcome a double-figure deficit in the first half and gotten away from its original game plan that was supposed to preserve the energy of the six players that stepped on the court for the Braves when they entered the fourth quarter with a slim lead over No. 5 Charleston in a Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament quarterfinal on Saturday night.

But SCC avoided the upset against the Bluejays, pulling away for a 93-81 victory at the Show Me Center after leading by three entering the final quarter.

"At that point it's just about patience and watching for our opportunities, not rushing shots," SCC coach Frank Staple said. "We had to rebound. We gave up way too many second-chance points in that game, but we knew we had to control the boards. That's what we was about in that fourth quarter, just controlling the boards, getting good shots and getting out and getting fast break points when we could."

The Braves led 73-71 with 5 minutes, 45 seconds left in the game before Staple called a timeout. A jumper by Javonta Daniel and a 3-pointer from the wing by Tre Moore pushed their lead to 78-71.

Charleston scored on its next possession to pull within five with about four minutes left, but SCC rattled off nine unanswered points to push its lead to 87-73 with two minutes to go. Junior guard Jeffery Porter, who was scoreless through the first quarter of the game, had six points during that stretch that all but sealed the victory.

The Bluejays were just 7 of 21 -- 1 for 8 from 3-point range -- in the final quarter as they were outscored 25-16.

"I wanted them to be more aggressive," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. "They don't have very many people on their bench, so I wanted to push, penetrate the ball and make them foul or give up the easy bucket. My key is I guess they couldn't do it. Then we missed too many easy buckets right there in the fourth, too."

The short bench of SCC also was a concern for Staple, who didn't want to get into as much as an up and down game early as might've been expected for the two similar, fast-paced style teams.

"Actually we wanted to try and slow it down a little bit the first half and just kind of execute in the half-court set. Kind of save our legs and explode in the second half," Staple said. "We had to get out a little bit more in the second quarter, and then into the third and fourth to get out a lot and play the way we wanted to play."

That all changed when the Bluejays took an early double-figure lead in the contest.

Charleston jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game, but SCC battled back to take an 11-10 lead with 3:55 left in the first on a fastbreak layup by Matt Blissett.

The Bluejays scored the next 11 points with help from some SCC turnovers to take a 10-point lead. They led 26-16 after the first quarter.

"I just challenged them. At that point it's not about the X's and O's, it's just about that heart that you have inside of you," Staple said. "That's kind of our mantra for the year. How far we go is determined by how hard we play. We finally woke up and we responded and we had good results at the end."

SCC trailed by as many as 12 when a Delfincko Bogan basket made it 37-25 with 4:24 remaining in the second quarter.

A 3-point play by Moore 10 seconds later sparked a 15-4 run the Braves to end the half and give them a 43-41 advantage at the break.

The third quarter featured seven ties, but SCC took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Drake Kesler that made it 58-55 with 4:05 in the third.

A steal and basket by Daniel on the next possession pushed their lead to five, but SCC didn't separate itself anymore than that until the fourth quarter.

"We wanted to play defense, and we thought that if we could control the boards we could beat them," Farmer said. "We knew that they shot the ball well. We kind of figured we'd get more easy buckets, but we didn't. I thought it was a good match, two teams that play alike -- it's a good, evenly matched game."

Kesler scored in the closing seconds of the third to make it 68-65 off a pass from a driving Tre Moore before the Braves ran away with it in the fourth.

SCC's five starters all scored in double figures -- Porter had 21, Kesler and Blissett each had 18, Daniel had 16 and Moore had 12 -- while the lone reserve Skylar Lemons added eight.

"That's the good thing about this team. We have guys that can all step up and do things at different times," Staple said. "Those guys really stepped up for us tonight and hit some good shots. We're going to have to have that moving on."

Bogan led all scorers with 31 points. He was held to just four points in the fourth quarter before he fouled out with less than two minutes to play.

"We wanted to get out and face guard him a little bit," Staple said. "That wasn't working, so we had to go to a zone, and at that point it's just knowing where he is. You're never going to stop him from scoring, he's just too good."

SCC advanced to a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Jackson at 6 p.m. Monday. Charleston will face No. 8 Scott City at 3 p.m. Monday in a fifth-place semifinal.

"They're Jackson. They've blown us out the last two years we've played them," Staple said with a smile. "They're a great team, well coached. They've got a lot of size, so we're going to have just rebound, play with heart and see where that takes us."

Charleston 26 15 24 16 -- 81

Scott County Central 16 27 25 25 -- 93

CHARLESTON (81) -- Delfincko Bogan 31, Demarcus Sharp 16, Dontarius Sharp 14, Tenerrious Ewing 10, Mardareyon Clark 5, Darron Howard 3, Tyler Craig 2. FG 34, FT 6-10, F 22. (3-pointers: Dontarius Sharp 2, Bogan 2, Demarcus Sharp 2, Clark 1. Fouled out: Dontarius Sharp, Bogan.)

SCC (93) -- Jefferey Porter 21, Drake Kesler 18, Matt Blissett 18, Javonta Daniel 16, Tre Moore 12, Skylar Lemons 8. FG 34, FT 19-26, F 12. (3-pointers: Kesler 2, Lemons 2, Porter 1, Moore 1. Fouled out: none.)