March 1, 2017
Bravettes reach quarterfinals for first time since 2007 after big win over Delta
BLOOMFIELD, Mo -- A nearly two week break since their last game may have left Scott County Central a little rusty going in to Tuesday's Class 1 sectional matchup against Delta, but by the end of the night the Bravettes was were right where they wanted to be...
By Brent Shipman ~ Standard Democrat
BLOOMFIELD, Mo -- A nearly two week break since their last game may have left Scott County Central a little rusty going in to Tuesday's Class 1 sectional matchup against Delta, but by the end of the night the Bravettes was were right where they wanted to be.
Even with one starter out sick and another battling injury the Bravettes built a 13-point halftime lead before rolling to a 54-24 win that propels Scott Central to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2007.
"Anytime you can advance to the quarterfinal round you're proud of your team," Bravettes' head coach Matt Limbaugh said.
Delta (11-14) was in a similar situation to Scott Central (16-11) when it came to a long layoff entering the matchup.
Neither team has a district to compete in this year, meaning both squads last game came in mid-February when they finished out the regular season.
The rust showed in the early going with the Bravettes missing their first eight attempts of the night and finishing the first quarter 4 of 15 from the floor.
That was enough to take a slim 10-6 lead into the second frame, where they held Delta to just two field goals while building a 23-10 halftime lead.
"It was kind of a sloppy first quarter," Limbaugh said. "We missed a lot of shots there at the beginning and had a lot of easy put-backs that we couldn't get through."
While the double-digit lead going into the break may have given Scott Central some comfort, there was plenty of concern about the availability of one of their leading scorers, Johneshia Daniel, for the rest of the game.
Daniel hurt her ankle on a play under the basket midway through the second quarter and had to be carried off the court. She set out the rest of the half, but came out at halftime and tested the ankle before deciding to play the third quarter.
The result was eight points in a five minute stretch to help the Bravettes put together their best quarter of the night, outscoring Delta 20-7 in the frame.
Back-to-back Daniel baskets ignited an 11-0 run by Scott Central soon after the half, extending their lead to 35-13 with 4:04 still left in the quarter.
The Bravettes connected on 8 of 13 shots to start the second half and by the end of the third frame were ahead 26 points, 43-17, en rout to what became a turbo-clocked win.
"Johneshia said she was good to go," Limbaugh said. "She was at best maybe 75 percent, but he came in and got some big buckets in the third. We tried to keep her out in the fourth to try and heal it up."
Daniel's willingness to battle through the pain was especially significant considering another top scorer, freshman Samantha Coffee, didn't play due to illness.
Limbaugh felt the team used Coffee's absence as a rallying point that allowed other girls to step up in key roles.
"Anytime you lose one of your girls when you only have eight total on your team it's a big deal," Limbaugh said. "I thought Johneisha showed a lot of heart and Rita Meeker came in and played some big minutes for us when (Daniel was out). Trinity Thomas did an excellent job running the show. We knew they would probably run a box-and-one on Hailey Kesler and I thought we continued to work the ball on offense to win."
Daniel finished with a game-high 13 points to lead Scott Central and Hannah Bode was close behind with 12 points. Thomas added 11 points to the cause with BreAsia Jones and Kesler scoring six points each.
Tamera Crowden led the Lady Bobcats with seven points and Cooper Simpson finished with six points.
With the win Scott Central moves on to play South Iron (22-5) in the quarterfinals Saturday at 2:45 p.m. at Van Buren High School.
South Iron earned their spot in the quarterfinals with a 74-60 win over Couch (22-7).
SCC 10 13 20 11 -- 54
Delta 6 4 7 7 -- 24
SCOTT CENTRAL (54) -- BreAsia Jones 6, Trinity Thomas 11, Natalie Hubbert 2, Hailey Kesler 6, Johnesia Daniel 13, Hannah Bode 12, Rita Meeker 4. FG 21, FT 11-20, F 15. (3-pointers: Jones 1. Fouled out: none)
DELTA (24) -- Tamera Crowden 7, Alexis Mitchell 5, Carrie Waddle 3, Karlee Beggs 3, Cooper Simpson 6. FG 8, FT 6-9, F 15. (3-pointers: Mitchell 1, Waddle 1. Fouled out: Waddle)
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