Scott City shoots down Hawks

SCOTT CITY -- Putting together one of their best offensive performances of the season Tuesday night, Scott City turned a hot shooting night into a big win over the visiting Kelly Hawks.

Holding a slim two-point lead entering the second quarter, the Rams opened up the frame on a 22-0 run on their way to an eventual 85-44 win.

"We shot 67 percent from the field tonight," Scott City head coach Mark Dannenmueller said. "That's the best we've shot obviously. We've done it for a quarter or two, but we've never done it for a whole game.

"I told the kids throughout the year, I said, 'if we keep going at it and going at it, we're going to finally have a game where we all hit. Luckily tonight was the game."

After watching the Hawks (3-12) score four-unanswered points in the final minute of the first frame to close within 16-14, the Rams (7-12) were able to force Kelly to wait over five minutes until their next bucket while Scott City easily pushed its lead into the double-digits.

Starting the second period with a Jesse Sanders 3-pointer from the left side of the arc, the Rams opened the above mentioned 22-point run to go up 38-14 before Ian Householder broke Kelly's drought when he was fouled going to the basket, hitting the shot and free throw with 2:41 left in the half.

The Rams later ended the half scoring seven-unanswered points to take a 49-21 advantage into the break.

"Everybody just started hitting shots and we were clicking," Scott City's Landon Robert said. "This was probably our best offensive game all year. If one guy hits a shot, it's contagious."

Though Kelly's offense picked up the pace in the third period, scoring five-straight to open the half, the Rams' offense continued to roll all quarter with Justin Modglin giving Scott City a 32-point lead on a 3-pointer with 3:40 left in the quarter.

Entering the fourth up 70-35, the Rams were able to keep the turbo clock running all fourth quarter en route to their third-straight victory.

"We're starting to kind of understand that when we make runs we don't just allow the other team to come back," said Dannenmueller. "The last few games we've actually made runs and kind of put teams down a little bit. That's the big thing with us, (our) kids are playing with confidence and it's a credit to them."

Starting with a Robert 3-pointer with 4:20 left in the first quarter to put the Rams up 8-4 at the time, Scott City came out firing behind the arc early and rarely came up empty handed.

On the game, the Rams connected on a total of 11 3-pointers, including nine in the first half. Robert was the beneficiary on more than half of those, hitting six 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 22 points.

Not far behind Robert, Sanders added another 21 points to the Rams cause.

For the Hawks, Gabe Felter and Householder finished with 13 and 11 points respectively.

Kelly 14 7 14 9 - 44

Scott City 16 33 21 15 - 85

KELLY (44) -- Stosh Lovett 7, Trey Drury 5, Michael Kuykendall 4, Ian Householder Garrett Alsup 4, Gabe Felter 13. FG 17, FT 9-20, F 17. (3-pointers: Householder 1. Fouled out: none)

SCOTT CITY (85) -- Logan Henson 8, Landon Robert 22, Jesse Sanders 21, Hunter Cox 2, Justin Modglin 3, Zach Cotner 15, Ryan Brock 11, Corey Rogers 1, Jonathon McFall 2. FG 32, FT 10-12, F 18. (3-pointers: Robert 6, Sanders 3, Modglin 1, Cotner 1. Fouled out: none)

Junior Varsity

Earlier in the evening, Scott City's junior varsity also came away with a win, defeating Kelly's junior varsity 45-23. Leading the way was Ryan Fortner, who scored 13 points for the Rams, including 12 in the fourth quarter.

Kelly 4 3 7 9 - 23

Scott City 13 9 4 19 - 45

KELLY (23) -- Aaron Grainger 6, Josh Roberts 6, Jerrod Lynn 7, Derrick Garner 4. FG 6, FT 10-14, F 22. (3-pointers: Garner 1. Fouled out: Trey Walker)

SCOTT CITY (45) -- Eric Essner 3, Forrest Copeland 2, Colin Bentley 8, Eric Uhrhan 3, Trevor Job 3, Jonathon McFall 4, Ryan Fortner 13, Dominic Hooper 1, Ryan Brock 8. FG 14, FT 16-25, F 18. (3-pointers: Essner 1. Fouled out: none)