Scott County Central boys basketball team beats Clarkton to reach Class 1 quarterfinals

~ Scott County posted a 70-56 victory to reach the quarterfinals

VAN BUREN -- Clarkton's Antwoine Johnson knows what it takes to beat Scott County Central.

Having been a member of the Braves' team a year ago, he's got first-hand knowledge of the team's personnel.

But knowing what it takes and then executing on the court are two separate things.

The Braves showed once again how tough an out they can be come playoff time as Johnson's former team defeated Clarkton 70-56 at Van Buren High School on Wednesday in a Class 1 Sectional game.

Scott Central (23-5) moves on to the quarterfinal round for the seventh straight year on Saturday at 2:45 p.m. at Dexter where they will play Niangua (20-7), which posted a 66-63 overtime win over Eminence.

Wednesday's game was originally scheduled to be played at Bloomfield, Mo., but was moved to Van Buren because of hazardous road conditions in Bloomfield from the winter storm.

But it didn't seem to bother Scott Central as the Braves took down Clarkton (17-10) in the same manner they have done most opponents it has faced all season -- with superior rebounding, speed and quickness.

"To play Scott Central you've got to rebound and execute and try not to have so many turnovers," Johnson said. "And we kind of did a bad job of that tonight. I wanted to beat them. I'm friends with all of them. I love them all to death but I wanted to take them down. But it didn't happen."

The Braves led throughout the entire gam -- leading by as much as 17 points in the first half -- but had to withstand a third quarter rally by the Reindeer which closed the gap to six points.

SCC responded with a strong fourth quarter to close out the game.

"We were able to survive and advance and that's the good thing about it, but we've got to clean some things up," Scott Central coach Frank Staple said. "I'm proud of us tonight. It wasn't the prettiest, but hey we're still playing."

The Braves dominated the glass, outrebounding Clarkton 29 to 18, but they were hurt by 15 turnovers against the Reindeer pressure defense.

"We made some adjustments," Clarkton coach Dustin Ferguson said. "The half-court trap worked. We looked to push back at them. If we had did that at the beginning I would think that we would have a better shot to win."

Clarkton scored the first basket of the game, but the Braves took over from there, scoring 10 straight points, which propelled them to a 26-14 lead after one quarter.

"We tried to come out just send a message to them and let them know that this was not going to be an easy game for them, that if they were going to beat us that we were going to go down swinging," Scott Central senior Kendall Blissett said.

The Braves continued to pour it on in the second quarter, leading by as much as 45-28 after a Juwon Owens 3-pointer. A Marco Alvarado basket for Clarkton cut the lead to 45-30 by halftime.

"They got us early," Ferguson said. "When Scott Central smells blood that's when they start rolling, and I think they smelled a little blood early. It's a wonder we didn't get blown out."

Early in the third quarter SCC sophomore point guard Jeffery Porter went to the bench after injuring his ankle. Porter sat for most of the quarter and the Reindeer took full advantage, going on a run to eventually cut the lead to 55-49 on Dylan White's two free throws with 43 seconds left in the period.

SCC senior Larandis Banks was able to hit a big shot moments later to give the Braves a little breathing room heading into the fourth, leading 57-49.

Banks then started the fourth with a jumper and then a conventional three-point play to push the lead to 62-49. The Braves maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game thanks to Banks' personal 7-0 run.

"We ask him to do that," Staple said of Banks. "He's going to have to do that for us. We got a little flustered and frustrated but we were able to settle down in the fourth quarter and kind of keep that double digit lead."

The Braves got 16 points apiece from Owens, Blissett and Porter, the latter of which went 10 of 11 on free throws.

"As a sophomore he's really stepped up for us this year," Staple said of Porter. "He does a lot of good things. We put the ball in his hands and just go ask him to make plays."

Banks finished with 14 points.

"They work hard," Johnson said about his former teammates. "They're championship players. Scott Central is a championship team. They run the floor. They rebound well. They're long guys. They're just good."

Clarkton was led by Johnson's 18 points. White followed up with 11 points.

"They have so much heart," Staple said of Clarkton. "They're real scrappy. We knew coming in it was going to be a battle and that's exactly what it was. Those kids were just never going to quit and that says a lot about those kids and their coaching staff so I give them all the credit in the world."

Clarkton was making its first playoff appearance since 2009, when Ferguson was a senior guard for the Reindeer.

"They did some things very well tonight that we haven't seen in their film," Ferguson said. "The big thing about Scott Central is you can watch all the film you want, but you've got to see them in the gym to see and appreciate how quick and athletic they are."

Clarkton 14 16 19 7 -- 56

Scott Central 26 19 12 13 -- 70

CLARKTON (56) -- Antwoine Johnson 18, Dylan White 11, Marco Alvarado 8, Emanuel White 6, Quan Elliot 6, Read Morgan 5, Dante McBride 2. FG 21, FT 5-7, F 17. (3-pointers: Alvarado 2, Morgan 1. Fouled out: none).

SCOTT CENTRAL (70) -- Juwon Owens 16, Kendall Blissett 16, Jeffery Porter 16, Larandis Banks 14, Matthew Blissett 6, Javonte Daniel 2. FG 24, FT 13-16, F 11. (3-pointers: Owens 2, Banks 1. Fouled out: none).