Porter upholds family name in semifinal

COLUMBIA -- Scott County Central coach Ronnie Cookson was quick to talk about his 1976 team during the news conference following his team's 78-44 win against Glasgow on Thursday in the semifinals of the Class 1 playoffs at Mizzou Arena.

Cookson said that his 1976 squad, which was the first Braves team in school history to win a state title, beat Glasgow in the championship game 33 years ago, and that team included the fathers of current starters Otto Porter, Drew Thomas and Desmin Williams.

A few minutes later, Porter was asked what advice his father gave him as he headed to the state final four.

Porter said his father, who has the same name and played college ball at Southeast Missouri State, told him that he had to go out and play his hardest, like it was his final game ever.

"But he didn't," Cookson said jokingly about Porter.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comOtto Porter shoots Thursday, March 19, 2009, in the Class 1 state semifinal at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

If anyone on Scott County played like it was his final career game, it was Drew Thomas, who put on a show with 31 points.

But the sophomore Porter certainly gave a strong effort. He posted a double-double, scoring 17 points and collecting a team-high 13 rebounds to help his team reach Saturday's championship game.

Porter, who is averaging a double-double this season with 16.2 points and 11 rebounds per game through district play, was 6 of 10 from the field, blocked two shots and made two steals against Glasgow in addition to his scoring and rebounding.

Porter started on last year's team, which finished third in Class 1. He said already playing in one final four gave him the experience he needed to play well this year.

"Last year helped me a lot in getting used to the floor," Porter said.

Porter added that his father gave him a great deal of advice before the game, just like he does before many of his contests.

"He tells me before the games to be aggressive on the floor and not to let people push me around, but just to be strong and physical with them," Porter said. "He was just saying to hustle and work real hard and try to make everybody else be involved in the game."

Too many turnovers

Scott County began its semifinal looking a little nervous. The Braves turned the basketball over seven times in the first quarter alone.

Were the players a little nervous?

"No, not at all," senior Randy Timmons said. "We were just making some bad passes. We got a couple of them down. I made a couple of the passes and they [teammates] made a couple of the passes and then we got it together."

Both Porter and Thomas added that the Scott County players were not nervous, and that the number of turnovers must be limited in the title game.

Scott County settled down, turning the ball over only 11 more times over the next three quarters.

"We turned it over ourselves," Cookson said. "They said we had 18 or something like that turnovers. Ourselves, we just didn't hold the ball. We couldn't hold onto the ball."

Any pressure?

The Braves certainly are the team to beat. They were ranked second in the final Class 1 regular-season poll, but No. 1 Jefferson lost in the sectional round.

No team has come close to Scott County in the postseason. The Braves have outscored their opponents 431- 269 in their five postseason games.

"This group of kids I've got this year," Cookson said, "I really don't think you can put pressure on them. I really don't. I think they are so loosey goosy that I don't see how you could. I mean, really. They did not play their game tonight. Glasgow has got a great ballclub. We're not taking nothing away from Glasgow -- they've got three of four real excellent players -- but we sure did not play the way we are capable of playing."

Stat pack

One of Scott County's weaknesses all year has been free-throw shooting. The Braves are hitting only 65 percent from the charity stripe.

They put together a decent first half from the line, converting 7 of 10 free throws. But the Braves ended up only shooting 61.5 percent for the game (16 of 26).

The Braves did a nice job on the boards, outrebounding Glasgow 44-33.