Scott County Central wins its third straight Class 1 basketball title

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The most important thing to Scott County Central Braves basketball success, according to coach Kenyon Wright, is that every player -- no matter how great his individual skill -- understands and accepts exactly what he is expected to do to help the team win.

The players can't try to do too much, he said, but they also can't settle for doing too little and leave some work for others.

"We've got about 15 kids this year that have realized, 'This is what I've got to do to help the team and if I can do this, I can help the basketball team, and that's what I want to do,'" Wright said a day before his team left for the final four.

The Braves all played the roles needed to defeat Dadeville 69-54 and claim their third consecutive and record 15th Class 1 championship Saturday at Mizzou Arena.

Senior Otto Porter played the role of star, scoring 27 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He shot 10 of 14 (71 percent) from the field and was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line.

Scott County Central's Otto Porter takes off up the court during the fourth quarter of the Class 1 championship game against Dadeville on Saturday in Columbia, Mo. (Kristin Eberts)

But Saturday's game against a Dadeville team that refused to become the latest blowout on SCC's march to the title was about much more than Porter's excellence.

Dadeville kept one defensive player glued to Porter at all times -- whether the ball was near him or not -- and three players regularly raced to surround him as soon as he caught a pass.

"They kept a man on Bubba, and every time we gave it to him, they'd pack it in on him real fast so Bubba didn't have enough time to react to it," senior Reggie Woodson said, calling Porter by his nickname. "They did a real good job of playing a box-and-one on Bubba."

That meant, as Dadeville coach Michael Linehan had designed, the Braves would have to beat the Bearcats from the outside. And they did.

"Coach always told me to just be patient, just let the game come to you," said Porter, who was held to 10 points in the first half. "That's what I kind of just did. I just tried to get my teammates involved -- just have to set the tempo for the second half."

Scott County Central's Otto Porter shoots over Dadeville's Jacob Goodman during the first quarter of the Class 1 championship game Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

So Saturday was also about senior Trey Johnson, whose 3-pointer from the corner 10 seconds into the game gave SCC a lead they never gave up.

It was about junior Lamarcus Steward, whose only field goal came with his team up just eight points with four minutes, 43 seconds left until halftime. He also made a free throw after being fouled on the play.

"It was a team effort," senior Stewart Johnson said. "I've got to say Dadeville did a good job on Bubba, did a good job on shading me. Me and Bubba, in the huddles, we was just telling the other role players like Dominique and Trey if they got open shots to shoot."

Saturday was definitely about Dominique Porter. The junior was told that he needed make some jumpers to help his team win. And he did.

"I think about two minutes into the first quarter I hit a big 3, so after that I started feeling comfortable with just pulling up and hitting a jump shot," Dominique Porter said.

Scott County Central's Lamarcus Steward shoots over Dadeville's Zach Medley during the second quarter of the Class 1 championship game Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

"They didn't let us have a lot of passes and cut-throughs like we usually do, so we had to just pull up and shoot our shots."

Scott County Central led 35-21 at halftime and by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, but for a team that had won its five playoff games by an average of 52.2 points, Saturday's game felt close.

"The last several games we've played we've come out and got up a little bit, and we just couldn't put [Dadeville] away in the end," Wright said. "We kind of left it at like 15, 17 most of the game there, and we never could jump over the hump because they'd hit a 3 or we'd throw a ball away or something like that.

Dadeville hit eight 3-pointers in the game and shot 54 percent from the field. The Bearcats were lead by Zach Medley's 19 points.

"We knew they was going to make their run because, I mean, it's the state championship," Stewart Johnson said. "They don't want to lose. We don't to lose. We knew they was going to make their run, so we kind of expected it. We knew we had to keep our composure and be patient when they made their run."

Scott County Central coach Kenyon Wright, center, celebrates with his players after the Braves defeated Dadeville in the Class 1 championship game in Columbia, Mo.

So Saturday was about Johnson, the senior point guard playing in his third final four, scoring 11 points while not allowing any player to try to do too much -- or too little -- while Dadeville pulled to within 10 points twice in the second half.

It was about the whole team -- because it had to be.

"It feels good. It's just what we've been working for," Otto Porter said. "It just paid off at the end.

"I can't even describe it, it just feels so good."

Dadeville 10 11 18 15 -- 54

Scott County Central fans cheer during the second quarter of the Class 1 championship game Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. Scott County Central won 69-54.

SCC 20 15 16 18 -- 69

DADEVILLE (54) -- Jacob Goodman 2, Trent Bergmann 14, Zach Medley 19, Dakota Webb 13, Ben Dobbins 6. FG 20, F 18, FT 6-10. (3-pointers: Bergmann 4, Medley 4. Fouled out: Dobbins)

SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL (69) -- Stewart Johnson 11, Trey Johnson 5, Otto Porter 27, Dominique Porter 18, Reggie Woodson 5, Lamarcus Steward 3. FG 26, F 14, FT 15-17. (3-pointers: T. Johnson 1, D. Porter 1. Fouled out: none)