It wasn't an unfamiliar sight. Back on Dec. 11, Advance and Scott County Central met in the title game of the Oran Invitational. The former built up a nice lead and the latter came charging back.

Fast forward to Wednesday night in the fifth-place game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament, and the fifth-seeded Hornets clashed with the sixth-seeded Braves yet again. Yet again, Advance built up a nice lead and Scott County charged back.

Yet again, the Hornets held on to win, this time even more convincingly, as they dropped the Braves 86-72 at the Show Me Center.

Advance (8-2) came flying out to a 30-14 edge early on before SCC (6-6) pulled within a point midway through the third quarter. But Preston Wuebker hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the Hornets had a 10-2 run to take a 62-56 advantage into the final period.

Advance's Dawson Mayo rebounds the ball against Scott County Central during the first quarter in the fifth place game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (Glenn Landberg)

"They're going to go on their runs and we're going to go on our runs and that's what it was," Advance coach Bubba Wheetley said. "[Later] they make it within four and we made another run. That's just making some shots. We got hot and hit a couple 3s and it's right back up to eight points."

They stretched that to a 14-point gap by the final horn.

"The last time we had a lead on them [in the OIT] they made a run," Wheetley said. "We stopped the penetration and the guys helped [on defense]. ... Even though they made that run, these kids never quit -- they knew what they had to do.

"I thought it was a good win for us. We did real well containing the press and slowing them down. We didn't give up a lot of dribble-drives."

It was a balanced effort for the Hornets, who got 18 points apiece from Wuebker and Brian Whitson, with Austin Ladd adding 17. Forward Dawson Mayo posted a double-double with 14 points 13 rebounds.

"Advance is a good bunch," Scott County coach Matt Cline said. "They didn't surprise us. They did everything we said they were going to do last night and we talked about this morning on the bus. It was the same thing they did a month ago when we played them.

"When we say what we're going to do, we've got to go out and do it on the floor. When we put a good game plan in, we've got to execute it once we get there."

Deantrell Beard paced the Braves for a second game in a row, this time putting up 20 points. Deven Blackmon pitched in with 10 points and Garry Wilkerson contributed 16 off the bench.

Scott County Central coach Matt Cline talks with players at the start of the second quarter during the fifth place game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (Glenn Landberg)

Jeffery Porter was held to 12 points, hitting just three field goals.

"Their big man, Beard, he had a heck of a game," Wheetley said. "He took it to us. And their guards outside shot well. They shot a lot of 3s I didn't think they would."

Advance came out of the gates flying for a second straight day, posting 30 points in the game's opening eight minutes. Wuebker hit a 3 a minute and a half in to go up 7-2 in the midst of an 11-0 swing that was capped by a basket underneath from Mayo at 4:40.

Jacob Brown hit from long distance for Scott County a moment later, but the Hornets again controlled things to the tune of a 15-5 run that saw Whitson post eight points, including back-to-back 3s late in the quarter.

The Braves got back in the game in the second period of play, with Beard scoring eight points in the quarter. He opened things up with a hook shot and 15 seconds later got to the free-throw line for a pair. SCC then went on a 14-7 run that carried them right back into the thick of things.

The deficit was cut to single digits, 39-30, when Blackmon scored a putback with 2:18 left on the quarter, and with 15 seconds left Beard found Wilkerson slipping back door for a reverse layup and a 41-34 score. It was the closest Scott County had been since inside the game's first three minutes.

Dakota Welty (10 points) knocked down a pair of free throws with five seconds left before the break to give the Hornets a 43-34 edge at halftime.

Scott County Central exited the break and quickly drew within five of the Hornets, with Blackmon getting a putback 28 seconds in and Porter converting two free throws after a steal just 15 seconds later.

By the time Beard got a rebound and put the ball up and in the net with 5:34 left in the third, the Braves were on a 10-2 run and within a point. Beard scored 12 points in the second half to keep hope alive a little longer for SCC.

"[Beard and Blackmon] are both juniors who haven't played basketball since eighth grade, so they've been a work," Cline said. "Just about every night you see them grow a little. I'm proud of them. They get there and they want to get better. They're listening and starting to show those [lessons] out on the floor."

It looked for a while like those lessons might lead to a successful Braves comeback this time around, but the Hornets weren't having it. They shrugged off the Scott County charge and began to pull away again.

Ladd scored seven points in the final eight minutes, while Whitson had six.

Ladd dished to Weubker for a 3 -- he had four on the day -- to pushed the gap to 12 points, 74-62, with 3:50 left to play.

Blackmon fouled out seconds later and the Hornets controlled the closing minutes.

"We got out and applied a little pressure and got a couple turnovers," Cline said of his team's rally. "They finally missed a couple shots and we turned them into transition points. But we had more loose balls we weren't going to get. We weren't fighting enough tonight."

Scott County Central 14 20 22 16 -- 72

Advance 30 13 19 24 -- 86

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (72) -- Brody Ditto 3, Jacob Brown 3, Eric Smith 5, Deven Blackmon 10, Deantrell Beard 20, Landon Glueck 3, Garry Wilkerson 16, Jeffery Porter 12. FG 24, FT 19-22, F 16. (3-pointers: Adams, Brown, Smith, Wilkerson. Fouled out: Blackmon.)

ADVANCE (86) -- Armani Vermillion 9, Dakota Welty 10, Preston Wuebker 18, Brian Whitson 18, Austin Ladd 17, Dawson Mayo 14. FG 33, FT 12-16, F14. (3-pointers: Wuebker 4, Welty 2, Whitson 2. Fouled out: none.)