Oran girls basketball team routs Scott County Central

MORLEY, Mo. -- Thanks to big performances by a pair of freshman, the Oran girls basketball team rolled past Scott County Central 70-35 on Tuesday night on Otto Porter Jr. Court at Ronnie Cookson Gymnasium.

The Eagles (2-0) pushed the pace early and broke things open with a 10-0 run to start the second quarter, leaving the Bravettes (1-1) scrambling and unable to find any answers.

"Any time you're on the road, you want to get off to a good start to quiet the crowd and get their energy level way down," Oran coach Ethan Evans said. "We preach pushing the ball -- we want 15 [points] a quarter, that's what our goal is. We feel like if we do that we've got a pretty good chance to come away with the victory."

The Eagles, who beat Malden by 23 points in its season opener a day earlier, did that in each of the first three quarters; the game was well out of reach by the final period of play.

Scott County Central simply had no answer for Oran freshman center Jessie Long, who finished with 26 points on 13-of-15 shooting and 13 rebounds. Twenty of her points came in the second and third quarters, as her side took control of the game.

Oran's Katelyn Streeter drives past Scott County Central's Maddison Avance in the second period Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 at Scott County Central High School. (Glenn Landberg)

Fellow varsity newcomer Leah Cauble did her part as well, with 24 points and 15 assists.

"They're two pretty special players," Evans said. "When [Cauble is] hitting from the outside and we can score from the inside, that's what we want -- good balance on the floor."

The Bravettes never could find their balance, with the visiting side able to keep Joneisha Daniel in check and the rest of the team struggling to get their shots to fall. Daniel, a sophomore, finished with 11 points and six boards, while freshman Trinity Thomas led her team with 12 points, going 6 of 14 from the floor.

"We have a lot of aspects of our game that we need to fix, and good teams like Oran will expose that," SCC coach Matt Limbaugh said. "We played a very good team tonight. They were very fundamentally sound, they shot the ball well from inside and outside and they play very well together. We knew coming in that they were a good team, and we were excited coming in to see how we matched up. We come away knowing we've got some work to do."

The Bravettes stayed close, 8-6, thanks to a Daniel jumper midway through the first quarter, but that's as close as the home side got.

Scott County Central's Johneisha Daniel lines up to shoot a free throw in the first period against Oran Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 at Scott County Central High School. (Glenn Landberg)

Long took over the game in the second quarter, opening the frame with a fast-break bucket 30 seconds in and going on to post 12 points and five rebounds in that period. By the time Scott County Central knew what hit it, there was a 20-point deficit at the break, 38-18.

SCC briefly showed life to start the second half, with Thomas knocking down a jump shot and Maddison Avance hitting a pair of free throws, but Oran was off to the races once again after back-to-back baskets by Long.

Avance finished with seven points for the Bravettes.

Cauble took over as the game progressed, scoring 15 points in the final 16 minutes of play, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

The Eagles shot 31 of 58 from the floor, while SCC was only 15 of 44.

"They just moved the ball so well and played very well together," Limbaugh said. "We struggled stopping their transition game. Again, that's a credit to Oran. They hit a lot of shots that fell, and that's a credit to good shooters.

Oran coach Ethan Evans talks with the team between periods against Scott County Central Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 at Scott County Central High School. (Glenn Landberg)

"Playing teams like Oran today does nothing but make you better. ... We were excited to play them. It was a test to see where we're at, so now we know."

Oran 15 23 22 10 -- 70

SCC 8 10 8 9 -- 35

ORAN (70) -- Brianna Stause 10, Tatum May 3, Leah Cauble 24, Jessie Long 26, Ashlyn McIntosh 5, Claire Ramsey 2. FG 31, FT 3-8, F 16. (3-pointers: Cauble 3, Stause 2. Fouled out: none.)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (35) -- LaQuisha Strickland 3, Johneisha Daniel 11, Maddison Avance 7, Trinity Thomas 12, Chelsea Phillips 2. FG 15, FT 5-13, F 12. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none).

JV-- Oran won 31-28