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Braves hold off Stanberry rally in semifinals
COLUMBIA -- The Scott County Central Braves have made a habit of blowing teams out during playoff runs in recent years.
So maybe, just maybe, there was some fingernail biting by Braves fans when Stanberry trimmed a 20-point deficit to seven with 51 seconds left in Thursday's Class 1 semifinal game at Mizzou Arena.
However, the Braves were never in any real danger in the final minutes as they held on for a 69-63 victory to advance to the state championship game tomorrow at 12:50 p.m. against Meadville, which was a 50-41 winner of Macks Creek in the other semifinal.
Stanberry never got closer than seven until a 3-pointer at the buzzer reached the final margin.
"They hung around and any team that makes it here is tough," Scott Central coach Frank Staple said. "But like I told the boys in the room, I don't care if we won by a half a point. As long as you win, you advance. I'm just happy to be playing on Saturday."
The Braves (25-5) were able to build its big lead by doing what they always do -- pressuring guards into turnovers.
Scott Central scored 20 points off 21 forced turnovers. The Braves' speed and quickness had an obvious effect throughout the game, which is something Stanberry coach Nick Groomer knew would be an issue for his team heading into the contest.
"We couldn't replicate it in practice," Groomer said of the Braves' quickness. "We talked and talked about going slow and changing the style of the game. We talked about they're going to be all over you and they're going to be anticipating every pass and jumping every pass. We tried and tried. We tried five-on-eight and we still couldn't replicate what they do."
The Braves never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 4-0 lead on back-to-back jumpers by senior Larandis Banks and sophomore Jeffery Porter.
Scott Central's lead continued to swell throughout the first quarter as they steadily pulled away, leading by as much as 21-12 on a Banks 3-pointer with 1:03 left in the period. Stanberry's Isaac Heddinger scored on a jumper 30 seconds later to cut the lead to 21-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Stanberry (26-2), with a significant size advantage in the paint with 6-foot-7 senior Ryan Jensen and 6-4 sophomore Daniel Hailey, found success inside once they were able to get past the initial surge of defensive pressure up top.
But the Braves' speed, in not only creating turnovers, but chasing down loose ball rebounds helped Scott Central control the first half.
"I thought we came out in the first half and kind of set the tone, set the tempo, which is what we wanted to do," Staple said. "We wanted to run, run, run. There's no way that we could compare with their size. I think the big kid had something like, it seems like 10 dunks. We wanted to run and use our speed and I thought in the first half we really did that and got ourselves a cushion. That was a big reason why we won the game."
Scott Central opened up a double-digit lead early in the second quarter that eventually reached 38-18 on a Juwan Owens free throw with 2:23 left in the half to mark the Braves' biggest lead of the night.
A slam dunk by Jensen and a free throw by Alex McQuinn cut the lead to 38-21, but Owens got free for a layup with 56 seconds left in the half to send the Braves into halftime with a 40-21 lead.
Another Braves rout appeared to be in the works.
But Stanberry came out in the third quarter looking like a different team.
The Bulldogs methodically crept closer, eventually getting the lead in single digits at 47-38 after back-to-back two-handed jams by Jensen to bring the vocal Stanberry crowd to life.
"The second half they kind of figured some things out, made some adjustments and we got a little stagnant," Staple said.
Stanberry twice cut the lead to eight points, including on a Jensen offensive putback with 26 seconds left, but Porter's pull-up jumper at the third quarter buzzer gave the Braves a little more breathing room heading into the fourth, leading 51-41.
"It was a tale of two halves," Groomer said. "We could just stay in the locker room and let them win or we could come out and fight and chip away."
Porter's shot seemed to awaken the Braves in the fourth quarter as they seized the momentum that the Bulldogs had gained. Scott Central built a 55-41 lead and still maintained a 60-47 advantage after a Kendall Blissett basket with 4:21 left in the game.
But Stanberry did not go quietly, cutting the lead to 62-54 on a 3-pointer by Hailey with 1:24 left in the game.
A pair of free throws by Banks pushed the lead back to 10 with 55 seconds left, but Hailey answered just four seconds later with another 3-pointer to cut the lead to 64-57.
The Braves answered with five straight points to essentially seal the game. Banks' layup with 19 seconds left gave the Braves a 69-57 lead. Stanberry drained a pair of 3-pointers in the final eight seconds. One by Cory Luke and then, after a jump-ball, a 3 at the buzzer by Hailey.
"I'll be honest we haven't seen anyone play like that," Groomer said of the Braves. "I like to think we're fast and strong too. But if you haven't seen it, it takes a little while to adjust. It was just a little bit too late."
Scott Central was led by Banks' 26 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Porter followed up with 22 points.
"They're our leaders," Staple said of Banks and Porter. "I thought they stepped up and made some key shots in the end, hit some key free throws, made some key defensive stops. They did a good job of rallying us when the other team made a run. That's basketball. It's going to happen. They kind of stepped up and settled us down and we were able to win this game and I give them credit for that."
Stanberry got a game-high 30 points from Hailey. Jensen finished with 16 points.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded Scott Central 32 to 25 in the game, but were minus-eight in turnover differential.
Stanberry, which lost 62-60 to Eminence in the state title game last year, was making just its third Show-Me Showdown appearance.
But Groomer said his team was not in awe of the 16-time state champion Braves.
"Our mindset was we got nothing to lose," Groomer said. "Anywhere you looked -- papers, the internet -- they were picked to win this thing. And I hope they win now and make us look good. But we wanted to be the team to upset them. We're trying to start our tradition. If it means ending theirs, it does. Unfortunately it didn't today. That was our mindset. We respect what they can do, but we're trying to make our own tradition as well."
Scott Central will be making its 18th appearance in the state championship game and will be shooting for an unprecedented 17th state title tomorrow.
The Braves won four straight state titles before coming up short in the quarterfinal round to Eminence last year. Staple said the loss fueled his team in the offseason.
"We were hungry," Staple said. "This senior class, since they've been in junior high I think we've gone to state every year. That streak was going to end some time and it ended last year unfortunately. But they were determined not to let that happen this year. They put in the work and they put in the effort and now it's paid off."
| Scott Central | 21 | 19 | 11 | 18 | -- | 69 |
| Stanberry | 14 | 7 | 20 | 22 | -- | 63 |
SCOTT CENTRAL (69) -- Larandis Banks 26, Jeffery Porter 22, Kendall Blissett 9, Juwan Owens 5, Javonta Daniel 4, Matthew Blissett 2, Cameron Blissett 1. FG 25, FT 15-21, F 12. (3-pointers: Banks 2, Porter 2. Fouled out: none).
STANBERRY (63) -- Daniel Hailey 30, Ryan Jensen 16, Nathan Luke 8, Alex McQuinn 4, Cory Luke 3, Isaac Heddinger 2. FG 26, FT 6-11, F 17. (3-pointers: Hailey 3, McQuinn 1, Luke 1. Fouled out: none).