Bell City upends South Iron 72-60

~ Watkins scored 22 as the Cubs improved to 18-2 with the win.

ANNAPOLIS, Mo. -- South Iron is unbeaten no more.

The state's top-ranked team in Class 2 was beaten 72-60 in its home finale on senior night by a Bell City team that overcame its early offensive struggles with stout defense and steady free-throw shooting.

Bell City senior Marty Dames held all-state candidate David Prater to 14 points, and the Cubs knocked in 19-of-23 free throws in the final period, including a 13-for-14 performance by senior guard Ethan Watkins.

"If we had to pick a player of the game, I know it would be hard to pick anyone but Ethan Watkins with his free-throw shooting, but the job Marty Dames did on Prater was outstanding," Bell City coach Brian Brandtner said. "That's what he does. We put him on their best player, and I'll take my chances with Marty."

The Cubs also had no problems taking their chances with Watkins, who was sent to the line often in a lengthy and physical fourth quarter that featured 13 fouls on South Iron, six on Bell City and a combined 50 points.

"They came out and started hammering on us, trying to stop the clock," Watkins said. "They started doing that a lot earlier than I thought they would."

Watkins led the Cubs with 22 points, including 13-of-15 free throws on the night. Nick Niemczyk added 21 on a cold-shooting night, and Austin Bush scored 12, all on 3-pointers.

Bush delivered two treys on back-to-back possessions early in the second period to help the Cubs rally from an early deficit to claim a 23-14 lead. He put the exclamation point on the game with a 3 on a fast-break in the final minute of the game that gave Bell City its largest margin of the night.

"Coach said I better be glad I made that one," said Bush, who missed one shot on the night. "I knew it was going to be a close game, and I knew I had to hit some shots if we were going to win."

Just as Dames bottled up the 6-foot-4 Prater to 10 points below his average, Austin Casteel did an effective job against all-state guard Niemczyk for much of the night, keeping him eight points below his average, before fouling out. Bell City, after scoring more than 100 points Friday night and hitting 16 3-pointers, had to find other weapons in Saturday's showdown.

"The intensity level was much higher," Bush said.

"At the beginning of the game, we felt like we couldn't throw it in the ocean," Watkins said. "Austin hit those 3s, and that got us going on offense and defense. We played much better after that."

The Cubs also picked up a defensive spark from Melvin Johnson, who came up with some steals late in the first period to help his team dig out of a 10-5 hole.

"Whenever you get other guys scoring, that frees everything up," Brandtner said. "Obviously, other teams are going to key on Niemczyk. And Nick doesn't force it. He doesn't care if he scores one point as long as we get a win.

"He usually scores a lot of points late in games, but tonight, they were fouling Ethan."

Said Watkins: "It felt like a free-throw shooting contest in the last quarter."

South Iron also took nine free throws in the last quarter, as it began to work the inside game to Prater and 6-5 junior Will Sutton, who finished 16 points, and the penetration of Jarod Middleton, who scored 17.

Bell City's Phillip Gross fouled out with nine points as the Cubs had to deal with some foul problems of their own.

"Traveling this far, we knew we would have to come through some adversity on their home court," Watkins said. "We fought through it, and this feels good beating the No. 1 team in Class 2."

Bell City, the No. 3 team in Class 1 and a final four team the last three years, improved to 18-2 with its ninth straight win since back-to-back losses at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

The Panthers (18-1) put up 23 points in the final quarter, only to be outscored by four and never get closer than six, which they did on the first possession of the period. Bush's third 3-pointer, about one minute later, pushed the lead back to 49-39, and the foulfest was on.

"We thought we could get a good look at the basket and expose some things," South Iron coach Dusty Dinkins said. "But we couldn't put together any defensive stops. They would just come back and answer, and that's the mark of a good team."

Bell City 11 19 15 27 -- 72

South Iron 12 10 15 23 -- 60

Bell City (72) -- Nick Niemczyk 21, Ethan Watkins 22, Phillip Gross 9, Marty Dames 4, Austin Bush 12, Melvin Johnson 3, John Paul Arnold 1. FG 21, FT 22-30, F 21. (3-pointers: Bush 4, Niemczyk 2, Watkins 1, Johnson 1. Fouled out: Gross)

South Iron (60) -- David Prater 14, Will Sutton 16, Cody Smith 8, Jarod Middleton 17, Austin Casteel 2, Dave Alcorn 2, Justin Ford 1. FG 19, FT 19-26, F 16. (3-pointers: Smith 2, Prater 1. Fouled out: Casteel)