Updated: Scott County Central boys, girls play sectional games Wednesday

Editor's note: The games have been postponed until Wednesday due to icy road conditions.

For the Scott County Central boys basketball team, making it to the Class 1 sectional game isn't something new.

The Braves won the Class 1 District 2 title -- their 11th straight -- Thursday and will face Class 1 District 1 winner Clarkton Wednesday, with the winner advancing to the state quarterfinal round.

"I know they're really quick and athletic," SCC coach Frank Staple said. "We're almost mirror images of each other in the style that we like to play. I know they have a lot of heart, they play with a lot of effort and we are expecting a battle because they're a really good team."

The Reindeer (17-9) defeated Risco 82-73 in the district championship game for their first district title since the 2008-2009 season.

"I think it's just a matter of who goes out and executes the best, who does the small things," Staple said. "It's definitely not going to be a game where anything's slowed down. I think if we can just be patient and do the things that we need to do, I think we'll be in a pretty good position. It's just a matter of two teams who like to do a lot of the same things, and whoever executes the best I think will come out on top."

The Braves (22-5) defeated Leopold 64-62 in the district championship, and were led by senior Larandis Banks with 38 points. Leopold defeated Clarkton 87-63 on Jan. 10.

Staple noted that his team's mindset, especially since the start of the district tournament, has been "unreal."

"The focus that these kids have now reminds me a lot of the teams that we had that went on that run and won those state titles the last few years," Staple said. "I'm very impressed with the way these kids are kind of keyed in on what's at hand."

SCC leads all Missouri high school basketball programs with 16 state titles.

The game is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Wednesday at Bloomfield High School, and Staple said a decision would be made this morning whether the sectional games would be played, with road conditions in question after Sunday's ice and snow.

Class 1 girls

The Scott County Central girls basketball team faces a familiar foe in its Class 1 sectional matchup.

The Bravettes take on Naylor tonight in a rematch of last year's sectional game. Naylor ended SCC's 2013 season with a 65-51 victory.

"I guarantee the girls think about it," SCC coach Matt Limbaugh said. "They always think about the team that ended their season last year. I feel like every team does that. We're not looking at it as revenge -- we just want to continue to hopefully be playing good ball and come into Bloomfield [today] and hopefully give everything we have. I told the girls to leave everything on the court and see what happens in the end."

SCC defeated Delta 56-32 in the Class 1 District 1 title game Thursday to reach the sectional round for the second straight year.

Naylor beat SCC 53-34 on Dec. 19, and Limbaugh said his team's excited to have the opportunity to play them again.

"They're just a very physical team, they move the ball well, they're great shooters, they've got a great inside-outside game and they just beat us at every facet of the game, and that's credit to a good team and a great coach in coach [Gene] Deckard," Limbaugh said. "We've just got to try to learn from the mistakes that we made that day and try to continue to get better, and it's my job as the coach to feel like I'm putting the girls in the best situation to succeed in that game."

Since that last meeting, SCC sophomore LaQuisha Strickland and junior Ziaire Davis transferred out of the school district. Others have had to help fill the void, including seniors Mikaela Blissett, Johniqua Fort, Derien Ditto and Abby Ross and freshman Maddison Avance.

Limbaugh is pleased with his team's response to the change.

"Before they left we were on a 10-game winning streak and we felt like we were playing very well. And once their departure came, obviously with any team it kind of shell-shocks you and we struggled a little bit trying to adjust to that," Limbaugh said. "We're getting better now. We've got a freshman starting now -- Maddison Avance -- and she's really starting to mature and come into her own, and that's fun to watch as a coach. And we just want to ride these four seniors for as long as we can and we put it on their backs and say, 'Let's go,' and hopefully they're up for the task [today]."

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Bloomfield.