STATE-RANKED SCOTT CITY GETS WAKE-UP CALL IN FINAL GAME BEFORE TOURNAMENT

For Scott City, the biggest question heading into the U-High Tournament is this: Did Advance reduce the Rams' confidence or incite the team's inner fire?

For the first time since February of 1997, the Rams, seeded second, lost a non-tournament game. To make matters worse, it came in their last game before the tournament, a 60-57 loss to the fifth-seeded Hornets. The last time Scott City lost a non-tournament game was to Kelly in double overtime almost three years ago.

"I think it was a good wake-up call and (that game) identified areas we need to get better at and one of those areas is free throws," said Scott City coach Derek McCord. "We're not going to get down about that loss because Advance (ranked No. 7 in Class 1A) is a very good basketball team. Maybe it's just what we needed."

McCord said his team has played pretty well defensively to this point, but it is still trying to find a rhythm offensively.

"We're still improving," said McCord. "This week of practice has been very good for us and we've been able to do things together that we weren't able to do at the beginning of the year because of some of our players coming in late because of football season. We've been able to do some break-down work offensively and defensively. But at this point, I think you could say our defense is a little bit ahead of our offense. Our one constant has been defense."

Scott City, as the second seed, will play No. 15 Meadow Heights in the first round at 10:30 a.m. Monday. The Rams met the Panthers in the first round last year and rolled to an easy 118-22 victory.

While this year's Scott City team doesn't appear to be as invincible as it was last year especially since two-time all-stater Jon Beck is lacing up his shoes and nailing 3-pointers at Arkansas State the Rams are certainly not without talent.

While the Rams' leading scorer is Ronald Watson (22 points per game), Ryan Weatherspoon is likely the team's most dominating player.

Weatherspoon, a 6-foot-6 center, is averaging 16.1 points per game and hits almost 60 percent of his shots from the field this year, but his defensive presence in the paint is probably more important than the amount of points he puts up.

Weatherspoon is likely the top shot-blocker in the region at 4.4 blocks per game and grabs 10 rebounds per game as well.

Watson provides a lot of versatility at guard. Because of his height (6-3), he poses matchup problems for defenses.

David Enderle handles the ball at point guard for the Rams and is also a tenacious defender. He leads the team with an impressive six assists per game.

Scott Johnston (7 ppg) and Ricky Keller (6 ppg) round out the starting five.

McCord has been pleased with his bench play this season.

"Ben Sample has provided a real spark off the bench," said McCord. "He's shot the ball well for us. Nick Steimle (6-5) and Matt Miller (6-4) have both given us good size and depth and Brad Glenn is a sophomore who gives us some exceptional quickness."

As far as the tournament on the whole, McCord thinks the championship will have to go through Charleston.

"They've dominated this thing several years and until they've been defeated several times, they probably will get the top seed," he said. "Athletically, they have far more quickness than anybody else."

McCord added that several other teams, including his Rams, have a shot at winning it.

"That's what makes this tournament fun," he said.