East Prairie upsets Scott City; Delta advances

East Prairie's Connor Scott blocks the shot attempt of Scott City's Alex Eichhorn on Tuesday night. (Photo by Josh Mills, Staff)

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SCOTT CITY -- In the opening round of the Scott-Miss Conference Tournament, two clubs hit the floor looking for their third victory of the season. Fortunately, for the East Prairie Eagles, Connor Scott came to play against the Scott City Rams and at the end of the night his 28 points aided an Eagles' 64-59 victory.

The two clubs battled back-and-forth in the first half with East Prairie claiming the first quarter 20-17, then in the second an 8-0 run in a stretch of about two minutes left them in good position heading into the second half, leading 37-26.

Scott City didn't roll over in the last two frames. They cut into the lead little by little on an occasional 3-pointer and tight full court pressure. As the third quarter neared an end, Kyle Lacey pulled the Rams within one 45-44 but Scott drained a 3-pointer as the quarter came to a close to make the score 48-44 in favor of East Prairie.

Landon Robert answered with a 3-pointer of his own to start the fourth off for Scott City, pulling the Rams back within one.

Following another Eagles' run, Scott City trudged back and made it close once again, but two key possessions left East Prairie in good position.

Dustin Caldwell scored, drew the foul and knocked down the free throw to put the Eagles ahead 60-53 with 3:25 left to play then Scott had his turn immediately following. Although he missed the extra, East Prairie led 62-53.

That's when the Rams tore off on a 6-0 run pulling back within three, 62-59. Skylar Cobb tacked on the field goal giving Scott City 59 points but from there the Rams' offense went blank.

East Prairie's Andrew Cartwright then went to the line, missing a bonus free throw. Scott City pulled down the rebound and Robert put up a contested 3-pointer, just missing off the back iron. Luckily for East Prairie, Scott was right there to grab the miss and was quickly fouled.

On the other end of the floor, Scott knocked down the pair of free throws, giving a five point cushion to the Eagles. The Rams missed two more 3-point attempts as the buzzer sounded giving East Prairie their third win of the year.

"We had a couple of kids there in the second quarter get in foul trouble and that kind of changed the complexion of the game, because that was two starters that were out," said Scott City head coach Travis Schiwitz. "We had a couple of bad turnovers at the time too."

Schiwitz did say that the 3-point shooting late in the game enabled the Rams to make it close at the end as did the full-court press following made baskets by East Prairie.

"Our press kidn of sparked us there in the third quarter," said Schiwitz. "We just played for about 2 1/2 quarters is what we did. As long as you're playing for only 2 1/2 quarters, you're not going to win very many ballgames."

East Prairie head coach Casey Knight said that his squad became 'lackadaisical' late in the game, in return giving Scott City a window of opportunity.

"We just started playing sort of not to lose, versus to win," said Knight. "They (Scott City) started hitting some threes and we quit boxing out and gave them a few chip-backs. Then, they put the press on and we panicked a bit. We gave them that window, but I was proud that we came back and held on for the victory."

As for Scott, his game-high 28 points secured in the win for Knight and the Eagles.

"Connor (Scott) is big and he's crucial for the team," said Knight of his junior. "When we're struggling handling the ball or need a big possession he can step out and handle the ball. He's only a junior and basketball is his third sport, but he's good at it and if he just keeps focusing he can be a force to be reckoned with, so I was just tickled to death with him."

Caldwell finished with 17 points for East Prairie while Cartwright tacked on 10. The Eagles, now 3-9, will face the winner of the Kelly vs. Oran game on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m.

Justin Modglin scored 16 to lead the Rams while Cobb added 13. Zach Cotner and Robert chipped in 10 apiece in the loss.

Scott City is 2-9 on the year and will be in action again on Monday evening in a make-up contest against Chaffee.

EAST PRAIRIE (64) -- Ben Hall 2, Kaleb Williford 7, Andrew Cartwright 10, Connor Scott 28, Dustin Caldwell 17. FG 27, FT 7-17, F 12. (3-pointers -- Scott 2, Cartwright 1. Fouled out -- none)

SCOTT CITY (59) -- Landon Robert 10, Skylar Cobb 13, Alex Eichhorn 6, Justin Modglin 16, Zach Cotner 10, Kyle Lacey 4. FG 25, FT 4-4, F 15. (3-pointers -- Robert 2, Modglin 2, Cobb 1. Fouled out -- none)

Delta 67, Chaffee 57

In the final game of the evening, the Delta Bobcats overcame a large first-half deficit and eventually put away the Chaffee Red Devils by a final score of 67-57. A big third quarter, featuring Delta outscoring Chaffee 25-14, provided enough of a cushion for the Bobcats' win.

Chaffee's Mike Rutherford led the way for his squad with 16 points while Alex Crowe added 14 and Jordan Yahn tacked on 10.

Delta was led by Chase Crowden's 17 points while Teddy May was right behind with 16. Zach Reigert knocked down two key 3-pointers and finished with 14.

The Bobcats will face the top-seeded Scott Central Braves on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

CHAFFEE (57) -- Alex Crowe 14, Mike Rutherford 16, Nathan Cicardi 6, Jordan Yahn 10, Alex Davie 2, Trevor Cannon 3, Andrew Terhune 6. FG 24, FT 7-10, F 20. (3-pointers -- Rutherford 1, Cannon 1. Fouled out -- J Cicardi)

DELTA (67) -- Teddy May 16, Cody Helderman 4, Zach Reigert 14, Chase Crowden 17, Cody Naramore 8, Cody Schremp 4, Shelby Kight 4. FG 23, FT 17-24, F 10. (3-pointers -- Reigert 2, May 1, Naramore 1. Fouled out -- none)