Kobe Watson shines as Scott City extends winning streak against Scott County Central

SIKESTON — The Scott City Rams continued their scorching hot January with a 69-28 win over the Scott County Central Braves on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Kobe Watson led the Rams with 25 points, followed by 14 points from Braeden Walton and nine from Jaylen Rulo.

“(Watson’s) a really good player, and he’s a senior, so when other guys can follow along with him, that’s really important,” Scott City head coach Mark Dannenmueller said. “I personally thought the difference in the game was Jaylen’s ball pressure. He kept the ball in front of him. He did a great job. I don’t even know how many he scored, but his defense was great.”

In the only contested period in the game, the Braves took a 15-14 lead on a 3-pointer by Brandon Bean at the end of the first quarter.

“We didn’t come out ready to play,” Dannenmueller said. “I didn’t have them ready to play. We stood around a lot defensively and we tried a couple different things we didn’t do a good job of … and they made us be staggered offensively.”

The Braves went on to score fewer points through the final three quarters than their first-period output as the Rams ramped up the defense and held them to a total of 13 points the rest of the game.

Led by Walton’s six points, the Rams exacted their dominance with a 15-3 run that lasted nearly the entirety of the second quarter to go into halftime leading 31-20. The Rams’ momentum continued, as they stampeded to the thundering tune of a 23-3 run at the start of the second half to lead 56-25 behind Watson’s 13 third-quarter points.

“To the kids’ credit, they fixed it,” Dannenmueller said. “We didn’t do anything different. They just fixed it on their own.”

It was already a rout entering the fourth quarter, but the Rams’ lead surpassed 40 points after a 3-point basket by Gavin Rodgers. Rulo and Chase Knight also drained 3-pointers to keep the offensive pressure on the Braves in the final minutes.

Trevor Brown led the Braves with 11 points, while Cortavian Banks scored eight points, Courtney Sanders added five and Bean chipped in four.

Kaden Lowery scored all six of his points in the third quarter, while Max Snider’s only offensive contribution came on a 3-pointer in the second quarter. Jackson Gloth had one bucket in the first quarter and AJ Hayden rounded out the scoring with four points. While they weren’t much of a factor in scoring, they had a role in keeping the ball moving and finding the Rams’ players who were riding the hot hand.

“AJ, our other senior, came in and played phenomenal off the bench for us,” Dannenmueller said. “Our seniors definitely led us tonight.”

Scott City has won seven straight matchups against SCC. Before the current streak, the Braves had a 15-2 advantage in the rivalry series. SCC (3-11) will travel to Oak Ridge on Friday, Jan. 31.

Scott City (14-3) will return home to host South Pemiscot for their first meeting since 2013. It will serve as a final tuneup for the Rams before hosting the Scott-Miss Tournament.

“Our guys played in some big games last year and now they have that experience,” Dannenmueller said. “And it helps a little bit when it’s at your place.”