CLARKTON - The Scott County Central Braves and Clarkton Reindeer advanced to the championship game of the Class 1, District 1 Tournament with semifinal victories over the Delta C-7 Chargers and Gideon Bulldogs, respectively, Wednesday night at Clarkton. Scott County Central and Clarkton are scheduled to face each other today for the district title at 7:30 p.m., following the girls' championship game between Naylor and Scott County Central at 6 p.m.
The Scott County Central Braves were just too much for the Delta C-7 Chargers to handle. The top-seeded Braves defeated the fourth-seeded Chargers, 76-41, to move on to the title matchup.
Delta C-7 competed with the Braves for the first four minutes of the game. Unfortunately for the Chargers, Scott County Central came alive and went on an 8-0 run after the Chargers' Chris Berry hit a jump shot at the 4:06 mark in the first quarter.
At the end of the first quarter, the Braves led by five points, 15-10.
Scott County Central dominated the rest of the game. The Braves held the Chargers to just eight points in the second quarter enroute to a 38-18 halftime lead.
At the 3:37 mark in the second period, Holman hit a jump shot that started what would become a stretch run of 14 unanswered points for the Braves. Chris Pullen scored the final two points of the rally with a layup with 12 seconds left in the first half.
The Braves did even more damage in the third quarter, outscoring the Chargers, 26-15.
During third quarter action, Scott County Central completed runs of 6-0 and 10-0.
The two teams combined for just 20 points in the fourth quarter with Scott County Central scoring 12 of the 20. The Braves ended the contest by scoring seven consecutive points.
Holman, Pullen and Isaac Porter did the primary offensive damage for the Braves scoring a combined 50 points in the game. Holman led the three and all scorers with 20 points, while Pullen tallied 18 and Porter added 12.
For Delta C-7, Cody Pickens had 14 points and David Trawick scored 13.
The Clarkton Reindeer and Gideon Bulldogs found themselves in an all-too familiar situation Wednesday night in their semifinal contest. The two teams met in the semifinals of the Clarkton Holiday Invitational Tournament in mid-December. The Bulldogs took home a win in that matchup and went on to defeat the Campbell Camels for the championship.
Following Christmas break, the Bulldogs traveled to Clarkton and defeated the hometown team to become the only team with two wins over the Reindeer this season. Clarkton had revenge on its mind and the scene was set for an all-important matchup with fans from both sides packing the Clarkton High School gymnasium, where Gideon picked up its first four wins of the 2003-04 season.
Clarkton would not be denied in the third meeting of the year between the two teams. The third-seeded Reindeer defeated the second-seeded Bulldogs, 59-45, to advance to tonight's tournament championship game.
Clarkton took a 14-9 edge in first quarter competition. The Reindeer paced themselves with two 4-0 runs and a 5-0 run in the period.
Both teams battled back-and-forth in the second frame until the final two minutes when Clarkton scored six straight points to close out first half play and take a 27-20 halftime lead.
The Reindeer outscored the Bulldogs by just one point in the third quarter, 12-11.
Fired up by their hometown crowd, the Reindeer dominated the fourth and final quarter, completing three 4-0 runs.
Mikey Vegar continued his solid season for Clarkton by scoring 18 points to lead the team and all scorers. Kenny Gorman and Steven White added 14 and 10 points, respectively, for Clarkton.
The Bulldogs were led by Chris Woodall's 16-point performance. He was the only Gideon player in double figures.