Conference Champs: Oran Eagles supplant SCC for conference title

Eagles nail 11 3-pointers, shoot 63 percent in win

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- At one point early in the fourth quarter, Scott Central head coach Frank Staple threw up his hands wondering what it was going to take to slow down the Oran Eagles.

Oran had his answer.

Nothing.

Oran, who had played second-fiddle to the Braves for too long, emphatically knocked off the six-time Scott-Mississippi Conference reigning champion 90-64 Friday at Scott County Central High School.

"The kids came out and I could see it in their eyes from the beginning that they were ready to play," Oran head coach Joe Shoemaker said. "We knew that Scott Central was going to come out with a lot of intensity and effort. I thought we did a better job of playing with some urgency and being smart with the basketball."

To say the Eagles came out hot would be an understatement.

Oran connected on their first seven shots and eventually topped that feat by connecting on eight straight in the second quarter.

By halftime, the Eagles were shooting at a 68 percent clip while knocking down nine 3-pointers before heading to the locker room.

Leading the charge was senior Kody Moore, who started Oran's night out connecting from 3-point range and finished the first quarter with 12 points off four threes.

"It's always a great feeling getting in a good rhythm from the start," Moore said. "I was feeling it tonight."

At first, Scott Central had little trouble keeping up with Oran's fast-paced attack, landing 9 of 14 shots in the first frame. A string of missed Brave attempts late in the half, however, left the door open for an Eagle run.

Oran took a three-point lead with just over four minutes to play in the half and, on a basket from senior Alex Heuring, opened up an 11-0 run to finish the second quarter. Moore provided his fifth three of the contest early in the rally while Heuring chipped in a total of three buckets to put Oran up 48-34 at the half.

"We came out hot and when you're hot you have to keep feeding the hand," Heuring said. "That's what we did. We really got the ball to our shooters. If it wasn't out, it was in. We just kept working it."

Oran continued its charge in the second half, hitting on eight of their first 10 shots in the third. Moore and junior Seth Ressel provided the Eagles with their final two 3-pointers of the night during that span and with 5:34 left in the third, the Eagles took their biggest lead yet at 66-38.

With the Braves shutting down Oran from behind the arc the rest of the way, the Eagles focused their effort on their inside game. The change in pace allowed Oran to burn off the clock while maintaining a 25-point lead entering the final frame.

"They figured out we were shooting well," Moore said. "So in the second half they came out and really guarded us tight around the 3-point line not letting us have as much. We capitalized on that and when they'd come and belly up we were able to go around them.

"We just ran our offense, kept running it and finally we'd see a slot and could run in there were still hitting some open shots."

On a night where Oran's big three of Moore, Ressel and Heuring combined for 71 of the team's points, Moore led the charge with a game-high 31. Moore shot 11 of 17 from the field, including five of seven from inside the arc while also contributing two assists and three steals.

Ressel was second on team with 21 points. He hit on 4 of 5 attempts from 3-point range and shot 8 of 11 from the floor. Ressel credited the inside play of Heuring, who finished the game with 19 points, with opening things up for himself and Moore, who combined for 10 of their team's 11 three's on the night.

"We knew (Heuring) was going to be a big factor to them," Ressel said. "When we threw it in they collapsed and left us wide open."

Ressel's coach echoed those sentiments in saying it was Heuring who opened things up for the Eagles outside shooters.

"We knew they were really going to double down on (Heuring) inside and that left some shooters open," Shoemaker said. "We got (Heuring) a couple early looks, they really doubled hard and left us open outside and we were fortunate to knock some shots down."

As a team, Oran hit 36 of 57 (63 percent) attempts from the floor while shooting 55 percent from behind the arc.

For Scott Central, who shot 39 percent from the field, Larandis Banks had a team-high 25 points scoring 11 in the third quarter alone. Jeffery Porter had 16 points with Jaylen Porter scored 10 points to put three Braves in double-figures.

"They were hot and had a great gameplan," Staple said of Oran. "They destroyed us on the boards and got second and third shot opportunities. Then they got out and ran. They totally dominated from the beginning to the end.

"When you don't rebound you can't get second chances and when you don't rebound you can't get out and run. In order to play the way we want to play you have to get out and run. We're not rebounding right now so that's not happening."

Scott Central 26 8 16 14 -- 64

Oran 24 24 27 15 -- 90

SCC (64) -- Chris Brown 2, Larandis Banks 25, Jaylen Porter 10, Tyler Masters 4, Kendall Blissett 7, Jeffrey Porter 16. FG 24 FT 12-18 F 18. (3-pointers: Banks 1, Ja. Porter 1, Je. Porter 2. Fouled out: none.)

ORAN (90) -- Kody Moore 31, Seth Ressel 21, Jacob Priggel 6, Chance Tenkhoff 7, Hunter Schlosser 4, Alex Heuring 19, Cash Kinney 2. FG 36 FT 7-17 F 14. (3-pointers: Moore 6, Ressel 4, Tenkhoff 1. Fouled out: none.)

Junior Varsity

SIKESTON -- The Scott County Central Braves locked up the Scott-Mississippi Conference junior varsity championship on Friday with a 64-45 win over Oran.

After taking a four point lead into the second quarter, Scott Central outscored the Eagles 18-6 in the final eight minutes of the half to go up 35-19.

By the fourth quarter, the Braves' lead grew to 18 points.

Matthew Blissett led Scott Central with a game-high 19 points.

Thomas Trankler led Oran with 15 points.

Oran 13 6 13 13 -- 45

Scott Central 17 18 15 14 -- 64

ORAN (45) -- Blake Overfield 8, Thomas Trankler 15, Eric Westrich 8, Jason Bennett 2, Garrison Mangels 8, Anthony Pobst 4. FG 20 FT 4-10 F 17. (3-pointers: Overfield 1. Fouled out: Trankler.)

SCC (64) -- Drake Kesler 4, Gerald Sanders 11, Wesley Smoot 10, Javonta Daniel 9, Matthew Blissett 19, Skylor Lemons 9, Kaden Traughber 2. FG 26 FT 14-26 F 11. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)