Rams get key stop over rival Chaffee, win 73-67

SCOTT CITY -- In a game full of big offensive plays, it was the defensive effort of Scott City junior Eric Urhahn on Friday that prevented a near second half collapse against the Chaffee Red Devils.

With the Rams holding a two-point lead in the final 20 seconds of overtime, Chaffee came down the court with a chance to at least force a second extra frame.

Not long after the Red Devils had worked the ball up the court, however, Urhahn knocked the ball out of the hands of Chaffee's ball handler and into the backcourt.

A hustling Urhahn then dove on the still rolling ball and called timeout to essentially seal a 73-67 win.

"I have been pleading and pleading with the kids to please make a play like that," Scott City head coach Mark Dannenmueller said. "You just sell out and you don't worry about how bad it's going to hurt tomorrow or thirty minutes from now. You just sell out and Eric did.

"That was the happiest I've been all season long. I knew right then that there was no doubt in his mind he wanted to win the game. When he sold out and that was just a huge play."

Urhahn's play capped an exciting second half where the Rams saw an improbably comeback by the Red Devils after a sluggish first half.

From the opening tip the Rams controlled the first two quarters of play and with just over a minute left before halftime led 30-15. It was a 4-2 rally by Chaffee to close out the half the cut their deficit to 13 points heading into the locker room.

Whatever ailed the Red Devils in the first half was quickly forgotten when Chaffee came out of the break and opened the third quarter on a 14-4 run to close within three.

After scoring only 19 points in the first two quarters, the Red Devils went on to score 22 in the third frame alone with a four-point play from Jimmy Golden closing the gap to one at 42-21 to enter the fourth.

"Unfortunately it's kind of the same things we did Saturday against Oak Ridge," Chaffee head coach Josh Govreau said. "We just didn't come out with the effort and fight. Every 50/50 ball and loose ball in the first half they got. I let our kids know about it at halftime and we came out with a little fire in the second half."

Chaffee went on a 10-2 run to open the fourth taking their biggest lead of the night at 51-44 on a layup from Layton Tenkhoff with 5:51 left in regulation. With a 3-pointer from Jonathan McFall, Scott City started to find their offense again, retaking the lead with two minutes left in the fourth.

A 3-point play from Dominic Hooper pushed their lead to four and the Rams went on to hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute to maintain a three-point advantage.

The Rams looked to end things with one last Red Devil stop only to see Jared Walker hit a shot near the right corner of the arc forcing overtime with 12 seconds remaining.

The two teams battled neck-and-neck through the first three minutes of overtime. Already holding a one-point lead, Chaffee was sent to the line with a chance to extend their lead to three. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, two missed shots were followed by a Rams' rebound that led to a bucket in the paint from Ryan Brock to put Scott City on top.

One more made free throw gave the Rams a two-point advantage right before Urhahn's above-mentioned steal. Brock and Trent Pobst each hit a pair of free throws for the Rams in the final 13 seconds to close out the win.

"That was tough," Brock said of the win. "They came back from being down 11 and were up by seven at one point, but we came back and made our free throws. That was probably the biggest part of the game right there. Some of the free throws our freshman (Pobst), who stepped up as well as some of our other players."

Even more impressive of the Rams' win is they completed their comeback without leading scorer Jesse Sanders. Sanders was hit hard in the second quarter and, according to Dannenmueller, broke his nose.

Sanders tried to come back in the second half, but eventually was set down for the rest of the night.

"I think he'll be okay," Dannenmueller said. "But he was a little woozy and wasn't feeling well. We just got him out to be safe."

Stepping in Sanders' place was Brock, who put up 14 points combined in the fourth quarter and overtime while shooting 6 of 7 from the charity stripe.

Brock finished the night with a game-high 27 points, going 9 of 10 from the line overall. McFall had 23 points and hit the only two Rams' 3-pointers and Ryan Fortner pitched in 11 points.

Scott City shot 32 free throws on the contest completing 25 for a 78 percent mark.

"We thought we were on top and then they just hit is in the mouth," McFall said. "We didn't know how to respond to it (at first). We had a couple leaders step up and settle things down."

Peyton Montgomery led Chaffee's effort with 21 points while Charlie Montgomery added 14 to the Red Devils' cause.

Walker finished with 12 points, all of which came after halftime.

Scott City improves to 8-6 while Chaffee falls to 8-5.

In the night's junior varsity contest it was the Rams also coming out on top, 61-56, in the triple-overtime thriller.

Scott City had a chance to win it when it fouled with with 1.9 seconds left in regulation only to see both free throws fall short. The two teams fought to a tie in the first two-minute extra frame and with four seconds left in the second overtime a 3-pointer from Chaffee's Lane Henson tied things up again.

The Rams' Tyler Rogers hit a basket in the paint to put the Rams up once and for all in the third overtime as well as a pair of free throws soon after to seal the win.

Chaffee 10 9 22 19 7 - 67

Scott City 16 16 10 18 13 - 73

CHAFFEE (67) -- Peyton Montgomery 21, Cody Johnson 3, Layton Tenkhoff 8, Jared Walker 12, Jimmy Golden 7, Charlie Montgomery 14, Trevor Morehead 2. FG 28, FT 7-17, F 25. (3-pointers: Montgomery 1, Johnson 1, Walker 1, Golden 1. Fouled out: Walker.)

SCOTT CITY (73) -- Eric Urhahn 1, Trent Pobst 4, Jesse Sanders 7, Jonathan McFall 23, Ryan Fortner 11, Ryan Brock 27. FG 23, FT 25-32, F 18. (3-pointers: McFall 2. Fouled out: Fortner.)