Watson and Walton shine for Scott City; Chaffee clips Kelly

The Scott City Rams won a crucial Scott-Miss Conference matchup on the road against the East Prairie Eagles on Friday in East Prairie.

The Rams were led by the duo of Kobe Watson and Braeden Walton, who both scored 17 points, while Jaylen Rulo added 13 points.

"The biggest thing is we just trust one another," Watson said. "I know Braeden's got my back, all of our other teammates got our back so we know that even if we're not making plays, even if Braeden and I aren't scoring, we got other people that can do it for us."

Noah Johnson led the Eagles with 11 points, while Ty Wallace scored 21 points with six baskets from the three-point line.

Walton and Watson took turns leading the charge for the Rams during the first half. Walton scored eight points to give Scott City a 14-6 first-quarter lead after a 10-0 run to start the game.

"We knew that coming here to play was going to be a tough environment," Watson said. "And we knew if we just played our ball and didn't try to press, and just worry about everybody else that we could score almost whenever we wanted."

Johnson scored 16 points to keep the Eagles within striking distance in the first half. East Prairie outscored Scott City 22-18 in the second quarter but Watson's nine points during the period kept the Rams' lead intact at 32-28 entering halftime.

Kaden Lowery and Rulo each scored four points in the third quarter but the Rams fell behind the Eagles due to Wallace putting up three baskets from the arc to put them ahead 45-44 entering the final period.

The Rams charged back to outscore the Eagles 15-7 in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Rulo was under pressure at the free throw line but he met the challenge by making 5-of-6 shots from the charity stripe.

"It was really hard at the beginning," Walton said. "We came out and played really well, executed great, and then finished the job."

The win puts Scott City in the driver's seat for first place in the conference standings with the tournament less than two weeks away.

Scott City (11-2) will return home to host Cape Central on Monday, Jan. 20, while East Prairie (10-3) will host Kennett on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Chaffee 72, Kelly 42

Nolan Fowler scored 25 points to lead the Chaffee Red Devils past the Kelly Hawks on Friday.

Dane McMullin scored 15 points and Devin Best added 10 points for Chaffee. The Devils made 8-of-12 shots from the free-throw line.

The Hawks were led by Skyler Stll's 12 points, who was the team's only double-digit scorer. Kelly missed all nine free throws.

The Devils had their way with the Hawks through each quarter. Fowler's eight points paced Chaffee in the first quarter and Best scored all of his points in the first half to give the Devils a 36-26 halftime lead.

Fowler and McMullin combined to score 24 points in the second half to keep Chaffee cruising toward the final buzzer.

Kelly (1-12) has lost 11 straight games and will host Oak Ridge on Tuesday, and Woodland on Wednesday.

Chaffee (8-5) will host Oran on Tuesday.