Braves capture title with rout of Gideon

GIDEON, Mo. -- Even D.D. Gillespie had to admit he digs watching the dunk.

The Scott County Central boys basketball team produced no shortage of highlight-reel plays during Thursday night's Class 1 District 1 championship game against Gideon.

The Braves did, after all, put in 37 field goals in the 88-56 thumping.

And the score was only that close because the Bulldogs went on a 14-4 run to close the game.

The Braves threw the house at Gideon. All-tournament selection Drew Thomas scored 26, all-tourney pick Caleb Johnson added 18, Bobby Hatchett had 13 to go with nine assists. And Gillespie, also an all-tourney selection, had 12.

Even Sikeston junior all-stater Michael Porter, watching his cousin Otto play, was impressed: "They're tough this year."

The Braves stole the ball for layins, grabbed offensive rebounds for layins, grabbed defensive rebounds for fast-break layins and hit five 3-pointers.

"They're just a great team," Gideon coach Daniel Sexton said. "They are so athletic. They have so many people they can throw at you and so many people who can score.

"They've got so many weapons, I don't know if you can stop them."

Bell City will try to repeat its feat of stopping the Braves when the teams meet 7:45 p.m. Tuesday night at Poplar Bluff. The Cubs beat Scott County Central in the Oran Invitational championship game early in the season.

Gideon, however, was not able to slow down the Braves, instead yielding stretches when the Braves were racking up plays to remember:

* Hatchett coming up with back-to-back steals and layins for an early 13-4 lead.

* A second-quarter flurry in which Johnson grabbed a rebound and fired a pass the length of the floor to Thomas for a layup. Thomas then made a steal and fed Gillespie and then Timmons taking an outlet pass and feeding Thomas. That run made the score 36-17.

* Blocked shots by Johnson and Timmons in the first half that sent the ball flying against the gym walls or into the seats.

* A four-point possession where Johnson rose up over four defenders and pumped in a basket while being fouled. After Johnson missed the free throw, Thomas grabbed the rebound, gave a quick pump fake and converted. That helped the Braves settle into a 49-23 halftime lead.

When things are going that well, "I just sit back and say that's what we need to do to win," Gillespie said, "and that's why we do it.

"We just took this like any other game and tried to play our game. We like to run and play a high-paced game."

That pace continued in the second half. And about midway through the third period, the pace led to the play Gillespie called the highlight.

"Drew's dunk," he said. "That was a good one."

Maybe it helped that Gillespie contributed with an assist in the open court after a Gideon miss, flipping the ball ahead to Thomas, who rose up, put his hand over the rim near the backboard and threw the ball back down toward the court.

"Coach tells us all the time we can play this well," Johnson said. "Tonight we listened and did what he wanted us to do."

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL 88, GIDEON 56

Gideon (56) -- Curtis Miller 3, Jacob Deprow 4, Travis Miller 3, Dustin Hoard 6, Jordan Boone 25, Zack Robinson 7, Max Johnson 2, Andy Woodall 6. FG 21, FT 9-12, F 12. (3-pointers: Boone 4, x 1. Fouled out: none)

SCC (88) -- Jarron Banks 2, D.D. Gillespie 12, Mark Freed 2, Desmin Williams 5, Drew Thomas 26, Caleb Johnson 18, Randy Timmons 6, Otto Porter 4. FG 37, FT 10-14, F 14. (3-pointers: Thomas 3, Desmin Williams 1. Fouled out: none)