Bell City boys basketball rallies to beat Oran

BELL CITY, Mo. -- There weren't many surprises during the first 24 minutes of Friday night's boys basketball game between Oran and Bell City.

The Eagles had already defeated the Cubs twice earlier in the season, and all signs were pointing to another victory when the third quarter ended with Oran leading 47-35.

Then something unexpected happened.

Bell City clawed its way back into the game, and with 3 seconds remaining and one final chance to go ahead, Cole Nichols heaved a desperate 3-point shot from well behind the arc along the baseline. The shot was well off the mark, but Bobby Wright corralled the rebound and converted the putback at the buzzer, capping off a wild 63-62 win for the Cubs on Homecoming night at Bell City High School.

"Oran came out here ready to play, and our guys came out a little slow in the first half. But they didn't get down," said Bell City assistant coach Justin Simpher, who was filling in for the absence of head coach CJ Hadley. "They went out and played and stayed within themselves. They had to find a way to battle back."

Bell City's Logan Yates drives between Oran's Blake Schlitt, left, and Preston Hahn during the fourth quarter Friday, Feb. 5, 2016 in Bell City, Missouri.Fred Lynch

The comeback started when Bell City (12-8) opened the final period with a 14-4 run that was capped by Taylor Jackson's 3-pointer from the left elbow, trimming the Cubs' deficit to 51-49 with 4:39 left in the game. Jackson finished with 11 points off the bench, all of which came during the run. Bell City combined for 11 3-pointers, including three from Jackson, who missed only one.

"We talked to him a lot about shot selection, and he came in and knocked down a lot of important shots," Simpher said about Jackson. "It was good shot selection, and he was open. It kind of got our guys fired up and gave them some confidence."

A free throw by Layne Johnson gave Oran (13-10) a 58-52 lead with 2:32 to go before a pair of turnovers allowed Bell City to go on a 6-1 burst that ended with a layup by Peyton Maddox, cutting the Eagles' lead to 59-58 with 31 seconds remaining. Both teams turned the ball over before Jacob Shoemaker hit a free throw that pushed Oran's lead to 60-58 with 18.4 seconds left.

Wright found some space in the left corner with 7.8 seconds remaining, knocking down a triple that gave the Cubs a 61-60 lead, one they hadn't held since late in the first quarter. After a timeout, Max Priggel drove along the baseline and drew a blocking foul that put him at the charity stripe with 3 seconds left. Priggel hit both shots to put Oran ahead by one before the Cubs converted on their final chance.

The Eagles were outscored 28-15 in the fourth quarter, which saw three lead changes inside the final 10 seconds.

Oran's Layne Johnson takes a shot against Bell City's Taylor Jackson during the fourth quarter Friday, Feb. 5, 2016 in Bell City, Missouri.Fred Lynch

"We've got to do a better job of stopping that momentum quicker than we did," Oran coach Joe Shoemaker said. "They just continued to get hot. They had some kids step up and hit some shots. When they shoot like that, they'll be tough to beat."

The Eagles are still without starter Cole Priggel, who watched the game from the bench in a walking boot. Priggel will meet with a doctor next week, and Joe Shoemaker said he expects him to return for the playoffs.

"We've just got to come out and get better every day in practice," he said. "There are some little things that we did -- some turnovers, offensive rebounds, a couple missed defensive assignments -- throughout the game, not just there at the end, that make the difference. And we've got to clean those things up."

The Cubs improved their shooting clip by going 18 of 33 (55 percent) from the field in the second half. They were 5 of 30 (17 percent) from the floor in the first half. Wright finished with 12 points, including Bell City's final five points.

"We knew that he was going to come up big for us at some point in the game," Simpher said about Wright. "It just couldn't have happened at a better time."

Bell City's Cole Nichols puts up a shot over Oran's Max Priggel that Bobby Wright put back for the final score in the Cubs 63-62 victory Friday, Feb. 5, 2016 in Bell City, Missouri.Fred Lynch

The Eagles scored the first five points of the game before Bell City responded with the next eight, taking an 8-5 lead on a putback by Yates with 1:58 remaining in the opening period. The Cubs were held without another bucket until midway through the second period, and the Eagles went ahead by as many as 16 in the first half before Kolten Siebert knocked down a trey from the left elbow in the final seconds of the half. Oran carried a 26-13 lead into the break.

Johnson scored nine of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer that gave the Eagles their largest lead of the game, 41-24, at the 2:20 mark of the period. He finished 4 of 6 (67 percent) from beyond the arc.

"We feel like we're a team that's unselfish, and we try to take advantage of mismatches. He had one tonight, and he was feeling well," Joe Shoemaker said about Johnson. "We just tried to continue getting him the basketball, and he did a good job of attacking the rim and getting good looks for us."

Bell City had four players reach double figures, and its bench outscored Oran 17-0. Maddox finished with a team-high 14 points, including a trey from the left elbow that trimmed the Cubs' deficit to 47-35 with 12 seconds left in the third. Nichols chipped in 11 points, all in the second half.

Simpher believes his team, which consists of only seven players, has developed a unique ability to control fatigue.

"One of the big things we do at practice is conditioning," Simpher said. "They've got a lot of heart, and they want to succeed and do well. They prepare themselves to do that."

Jacob Shoemaker added 15 points for Oran, while Max Priggel finished with 12 points. The Eagles, who shot 45 percent (22 of 49) from the field, are 2-1 against the Cubs this season.

The loss snaps Bell City's three-game losing streak, and Simpher knows the two teams have a good chance of meeting again when the Class 1 District 2 tournament begins later this month at Richland High School.

"It's a good win, and Oran's a good basketball team," Simpher said. "They're well-coached, and they're not a team that's going to sit around and not start getting prepared. They're going to battle and be just as ready as everyone is when districts roll around.

"And we're going to do the same, just like everybody else in this district."

Oran 10 16 21 15 -- 62

Bell City 8 5 22 28 -- 63

ORAN (62) -- Layne Johnson 25, Jacob Shoemaker 15, Max Priggel 12, Preston Hahn 6, Garrison Mangels 4. FG 22, FT 11-19, F 14. (3-pointers: Johnson 4, Priggel 2, Shoemaker 1. Fouled out: None.)

BELL CITY (63) -- Peyton Maddox 14, Bobby Wright 12, Taylor Jackson 11, Cole Nichols 11, Logan Yates 7, Kolten Siebert 6, Brandon Abner 2. FG 23, FT 6-12, F 20. (3-pointers: Jackson 3, Siebert 2, Nichols 2, Maddox 2, Wright 2. Fouled out: Yates.)