BLOOMFIELD -- Scott City looked like it was ready to put Kelly away in the first half.

Perception turned into reality in the third quarter as the Rams coasted to a 66-44 win in a Class 2A, District 2 semifinal game Thursday night. Top-seeded Scott City (25-3) will face No. 2 seed Notre Dame in the championship game tonight at 8.

After turning the ball over 17 times in the first half, Kelly (13-13) inexplicably trailed by just 10 points going into the intermission.

But, with Kelly standout Jamie Essner going down with an injury, the Rams squashed Kelly's hopes for a comeback and an upset in the third, outscoring the fourth-seeded Hawks 19-11 and taking a 50-32 lead into the final eight minutes.

The Rams scored from all angles during the third as six players scored. Ronald Watson didn't contribute in the scoring column in the third, but had two nifty assists that gave the Rams easy buckets and added fuel to their momentum.

"I liked the way we passed the ball," said McCord. "We had five guys with five or more assists and that says a lot."

Kelly was somehow able to keep up with Scott City in the first quarter despite committing nine turnovers.

The Hawks held Scott City to just four of 17 shooting, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Kelly made five of its 12 shots and trailed just 12-11 going into the second quarter.

But Scott City opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run and led 20-11 with 5:50 to go in the first half. Kelly cut the lead to five points, 24-19, with 2:54 left in the second quarter, but the Hawks had more turnover problems and Scott City went on a 7-2 run to end the quarter and the Rams took a 31-21 lead into halftime.

"We didn't handle anything well," said Kelly coach Kent Mangels after his last game as the Hawks head coach. "We had a lot of unforced turnovers. We knew we'd have a tough time matching up with their players. Turnovers were just killers. You can't do that against a team like them."

"I liked our defensive intensity," said McCord. "If we continue to guard like this we could make a run. We did a good job contesting shots. They only hit one 3-pointer. The last couple of games we got in a funk and didn't contest shots. Games like this it comes down to who rebounds, who contests shots and who shoots free throws. The only thing I was disappointed in was our free throws."

Scott City made 12 of its 22 foul shots.

Scott City shot 41 percent from the field for the game while Kelly shot 33 percent.

Ryan Weatherspoon led all scorers with 13 points as 12 players found the scoring column for the Rams. Ronald Watson added 11 and Scott Johnston provided 10.

Kelly was led in scoring by Michael Romas who scored seven points.

"The last time we played (Scott City) we were able to get into our halfcourt offense," Mangels said. "This time they executed their gameplan to perfection."