Watson, Panagos lead Rams past Eagles

Scott City improved to 3-0 on the season with a tightly contested 61-57 win over Oran on Friday, Dec. 3 in Scott City, Mo.

Mark Panagos led the Rams with 13 points including making 7-of-12 shots from the charity stripe. All seven of his made free throws came in the second half and in the fourth quarter, the Rams made 11-of-14 between Panagos, and freshmen Braedon Walton (2-of-2) and Kaden Lowery (3-of-4).

Kobe Watson scored 12 points for the Rams, eight of which came in the crucial third quarter.

“I try not to force any shots, just get what comes to me and try not to mess up the flow of the game,” Watson said.

Watson, who transferred to Scott City from Murray, Ky., last year, has found a comfort zone after three games with his new team. He previously scored 11 points during his home debut against Lesterville on Dec. 1.

“This just feels like my second home,” Watson said. “We’ve always been from here but I never played here. Everybody welcomes me like I’m their own so I love playing here.”

Scott City took an early 14-9 lead after the first quarter, led by Jaylen Rulo, who scored all of his five points in the opening period. Nathan Ham was one of five Rams to sink a basket in the second quarter, but the Eagles closed the gap with a 15-point period to go into halftime down 26-24.

Watson scored half of the Rams' 16 points in the third quarter to regain the lead at 42-39. Overall, the junior forward wishes the game wouldn't have been close.

“I wish we could’ve had a little better win, come out a little harder,” Walton said. “I wish we would’ve come out stronger and I think we know that as a team.”

Oran tried to mount a fourth-quarter comeback by feeding the ball to Kole Burger, who scored 12 of his team-leading 15 points in crunch time. He was the only player on the Eagles to score multiple baskets in the final period. Brenden Campbell scored 10 points for the Eagles, including three three-pointers.

“We had a group in that was playing really great defense,” Watson said. “We got a bunch of stops and we scored. That’s what really got that lead going.”

Scott City will travel to Benton, Mo., to take on 4-0 Kelly on Tuesday, Dec. 12. The Rams will have two more home games before the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Dec. 26-30.

“I feel like we have a bunch of potential,” Watson said. “We got a bunch of different rotations going so we gotta get that chemistry going within all of us.”

Oran (2-3) will travel to 4-0 East Prairie on Tuesday, Dec. 12.