Diebold dagger completes Oran comeback in Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament consolation semis

For Delta, the clock struck 12. For Oran, Cole Diebold struck gold.

Ryan Jeffries of Delta could seemingly do it all, but even with his unreal 29-point night, 13th-seeded Delta couldn’t pull away from No. 8 Oran late, and Diebold made them pay with a game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds.

On a busted play, the 6-foot junior guard slipped out from behind the defense and to the middle of the floor. When the ball got to him, he made his moment count.

​​”He was supposed to catch it coming from the corner, but it somehow he ended up at the top of the key and it just went to him,” Oran coach Corey Davis said.

“There was nothing but money.”

On the victorious side of the ball, Oran senior Carson Kern put together his own masterful performance rivaling Jeffries with 24 points to keep the Eagles constantly fighting to claw back in the second half.

Needing a mighty performance to claw past a highly-touted Oran team, the Bobcats relinquished their lead in the fourth and after going back up 6 after briefly trailing, they faltered again.

The Eagles didn’t let that second opportunity get away from them.

“It feels pretty good,” Davis said. “Going down 20 at halftime and coming out and climbing our way back into it, winning it there at the end, it was a pretty good feeling.”

Jeffries, who’s entered the tournament’s Most Valuable Player conversation, only seemingly struggled at missing shots, and Delta jumped out to a tremendous edge by the halftime break because of it.

Accompanied by another 35 points scored yesterday, Jeffries hass jumped out in front of the pack as the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament’s leading scorer so far, even before coming out and tacking onto his lead on Day 3.

But even with that magnificent talent, Jeffries’ fading 3-pointer at the buzzer on the very last play of the game looked to be on target but chipped off the front rim, ending the Bobcats’ run once and for all.

Oran improves to 4-5, coming all the way back from down 16 at halftime to take the lead late and keep its hopes of a consolation championship alive with a powerful victory over the streaking Bobcats.

Carson Kern’s 24 led Oran, while Cole Diebold added 16 and both Reid Hobbs and Kole Burger scored 11 to round out the Eagles’ four double-digit scorers. Hobbs led the Eagles with three triples made.

Delta drops to 5-4 on the year, being the favorite to win for about 90 percent of the game, all the way down until the final 10 seconds, ending an impressive consolation run that nearly got them back into Day 4 action.

Ryan Jeffries led Delta with 29 points, nearly eclipsing the 30-point mark for the second time this tournament, still the only player to accomplish this so far. Bryce Cox’s 15 and Paxton Hornbuckle’s 11 accompanied him in double digits for the Bobcats.