St. Vincent upsets Kelly, enters Mayor's Cup on a high note

With one of the top-ranked teams in Class 3 invading their sanctuary, the St. Vincent Indians knew that in order to win, not only would their performance have to be great but the energy from the atmosphere had to be at a level not seen before this season.

“We knew we had to bring it,” St. Vincent senior guard Payton Strattman said.

Both of these occurred in St. Vincent’s 76-67 win over the Kelly Hawks on Thursday, Jan. 25, in Perryville, Mo.

“This was unique because I think coming to the game, nobody really expected us to win," Strattman said of the atmosphere.

"It's definitely more that we're used to because we're not used to that loud of a game," said St. Vincent senior Jacob Scremp, who scored 11 points to be one of four Indians to score in double digits.

St. Vincent started the season 2-4, as much of the team was coming off a lengthy football postseason run. Head coach Bruce Valleroy said at the beginning of the season that he expected the team to find their groove by the Valle Catholic Tournament. With the win over the No. 10 team in Class 3, the Indians were 5-1 in January and 10-7 on the season.

"We have a motto, it's getting better every game and keep improving," Scremp said. "This is a great game to show that we are improving."

“We’re always confident in ourselves,” St. Vincent sophomore Max Wheeler said. “We know what we're capable of.”

Wheeler led the Indians with a game-high 21 points, Colden Prost added 15 points, and Strattman chipped in 14 points. Each of St. Vincent's top scorers took turns leading the Indians past the Hawks.

Strattman helped keep the game tied 19-19 in the first quarter by scoring nine points during the period. He made three baskets from beyond the three-point line during the first half.

"That was really good that he got those," Wheeler said. "It really got us started, really kept the momentum going, especially going into the second half."

As the senior sharpshooter, Strattman was given the green light by his coaches to put up a three-pointer whenever he got a comfortable look, and he has been putting it to good use.

"It's nice just having the green light, knowing my teammates trust me," Strattman said. "They just make the right plays and find me open and I just try to do my job.”

Wheeler was next to be fed the ball in the second quarter, where he scored eight points. He along with three-point baskets from Strattman, Prost, and Case Huber led to the Indians taking a 37-32 halftime lead.

Wheeler then scored 10 points in the third quarter to help keep St. Vincent ahead. Most of the damage was done on the free-throw line, where he was 6-of-8 in the third quarter and 8-of-12 throughout the game. Combine Wheeler's contributions from the charity stripe with Wyatt Winkler's five points and six more from Schremp and the Indians turned a 22-point period into a 59-51 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Prost scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to help St. Vincent secure the win. The Indians made a total of eight shots from the three-point line and were 14-of-22 from the charity stripe.

Michael Dollins led the Hawks with 18 points, including shooting 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. Ross Peters also scored 16 points coming off a 32-point outburst against Saxony Lutheran on Tuesday. The Hawks made three shots from the three-point line and were 16-of-20 from the free-throw line.

Kelly (14-4) enters the Scott-Miss Conference Tournament on Saturday as the top seed and will take on Delta at 12:30 p.m., on Saturday, Jan. 27, at Oran High School.

__Cross-town rivalry__

St. Vincent will take on cross-town rival Perryville in the Mayor's Cup, on Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Perry Park Center in Perryville, Mo.

"It's always fun playing people you know," Scremp said.

Perryville (2-14) is a young team that has spent the season suffering through growing pains under first-year head coach Justin Dreyer. The Pirates were recently plundered by Festus 72-27 on Wednesday. Junior Jake Cissell has been their top player but are still looking for more players to emerge as scoring options. Evan Hayden led the Pirates with seven points against the Tigers.

"It's a neat environment," Dreyer said. "It's a game that the kids look forward to every year."

Perryville leads the overall series 15-9 but St. Vincent has won the last four matchups and is heavily favored to win again.

"I've won three straight but you can't overlook any opponent," Strattman said.

While St. Vincent seems to have the advantage in the boys' game, Perryville is favored to win the girls' game. The Pirates enter that matchup 11-5 and 10-2 after starting the season 1-3. St. Vincent enters the game 8-8 but has won three of its last four games. Perryville leads the girls series 17-7.

"When you're playing St. Vincent down there, it's always really down to who handles the atmosphere better," Perryville girls basketball coach Jason Dreyer said. "I think if we can rebound, we can play with them. I think we can play with anybody on our schedule if we rebound well."

The rivalry series began in 2000 and was played in the Perry Park Center at the end of every January since 2001.