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Scott Central upsets Oran in district finals
Bravettes will take on Delta in the Class 1 sectional
GIDEON -- The Scott Central Bravettes won their fifth consecutive district title on Thursday evening by defeating the No. 1 seed Oran Lady Eagles by a final score of 52-41. The Bravettes came in as the No. 2 seed in the Class 1 District 1 tournament, and now head into the sectionals Tuesday evening in Poplar Bluff. Scott Central will be going up against the Delta Lady Bobcats, who defeated Lesterville Thursday evening by a final of 52-42.
The Bravettes played more like the top seed throughout most of the game, as they jumped out early on the Lady Eagles with a solid performance from Markita Mosley. Mosley recorded six points in the first eight minutes, while Oran could only come up with seven. Scott Central led after one 12-7.
In the second quarter, Callie Kielhofner recorded back-to-back baskets for the Lady Eagles, cutting the lead to five. With the score at 16-11, in favor of the Bravettes, Brittney Jones hit a runner in the lane to quiet the Oran rally.
From there, the visiting Scott Central squad extended the lead to 10 points, eventually finishing the first half with an eight point lead, 26-18.
After the break, Kielhofner got things started up for the Lady Eagles, along with teammate Claire Seyer, as the two guided Oran within one point of the Bravettes.
Cheyenne King hit a jump shot along the baseline that gave the Lady Eagles their first lead of the game, 27-26, with 3:11 left to play in the third quarter.
The two teams then exchanged field goals, but as Scott Central regained the lead 31-29, the rest was history. After three quarters, the Bravettes led 33-
29.
In the fourth quarter, the visiting squad built upon their lead, eventually extending the lead to double-digits, 39-29.
Kielhofner singled-handedly brought Oran back to within six points with around four minutes to play, but down the stretch the Lady Eagles failed to convert on free throw attempts, eventually falling by a final of 52-41.
Leading the way for Scott Central was Brianna Johnson, who scored 21 points while recording 15 rebounds. Johnson also had four steals.
"I thought we did pretty good," said Johnson. "We just put together what Coach (Penrod) had told us to do. She told us to come to the ball, to block out and rebound and to just stay focused."
Jones added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Bravettes, while Mosley finished with 11 points and seven rebounds before fouling out.
Scott Central head coach Semona Penrod said that her club played extremely well, but that they still have some things to improve upon before their sectional contest Tuesday evening.
"They played hard, and I was real pleased with them tonight," Penrod said. "One thing I told them after we finished though, was that we have to do a whole lot of things different. We've got to cut these turnovers down. We did a better job tonight than we have been doing."
The Bravettes recorded 29 turnovers in the game, yet were clutch at the free throw line when the game was on the line. Scott Central as a team went 11-
for-16 in the fourth quarter from the charity stripe.
"Kind of like Brianna said, that they seemed to be more focused tonight than they have been," Penrod added. "We've been kind of torn apart this year, most of the year by injuries and illnesses and things. As a matter of fact, we had one of our starters out (tonight) because she had to have her wisdom teeth cut out."
"So, people just kind of had to step up and take over and do other people's jobs, and I thought they did a real good job of it," she went on to say. "Oran's no pushover that's for sure. They've got a real solid team."
Oran was led by Kielhofner, who finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and four steals. King chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds, while Seyer collected seven rebounds for the Lady Eagles.
Head coach Adam Friga, also named the district coach of the year, said that his young squad just didn't have everything going for them Thursday night.
"The young ones, just played like young ones tonight," said Friga. "The kids had good effort tonight, we just didn't shoot the ball well, and we didn't rebound well. That got us beat."
The Lady Eagles were out-rebounded 48-31 in the title bout.
"Playing in this atmosphere it's tougher to make shots," he added. "We haven't faced that pressure all year, but our young kids will learn from it, and they'll bounce back from it. It'll be a good learning experience for them."
Friga said that at the end of the day, his girls just didn't get it done, and that Scott Central played a great game.
Johnson, King and Abbey Anderson (Oran) were all named to the All District team in Class 1 District 1.
Up next for the Bravettes, now 10-10, is the Delta Lady Bobcats in a Class 1 sectional contest. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday evening at Poplar Bluff High School.