Energy. Desire. Call it what you want, Scott City boys basketball harnessed it better on Saturday evening, erasing a second-quarter deficit and busting out for a 73-45 victory over Kelly in the first round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center.

With seventh-seed Scott City trailing by six points after the first quarter, the Rams outscored the 10th-seeded Hawks 39-14 in the middle two quarters, and blew the game open.

"I just thought in the second quarter we played with so much more energy, and that really fueled us and got us going," Scott City coach Mark Dannenmueller said. "I think we held them to only five points in the second quarter, and I thought that was the big difference in the game."

Rams guard Dylan Keller drained a 3-pointer to open the second quarter, and it was a signal of intent from both player and team. Scott City proceeded to go on an 8-0 run to take an 18-16 advantage, and it never trailed again. Keller posted a game-high 21 points, including five 3s, two of them coming in that game-flipping swing.

Tied at 20 with 3 minutes remaining in the second, Keller again got a critical bucket, this time on a turnaround jumper from the lane, and the Rams never relinquished their 22-20 lead.

"[We] get anxious," Kelly coach Ryan Garnett said. "They hit a couple of big shots and next thing you know they're up 10 points ... but we got anxious. Keller stepped up. As far as I've seen, he hasn't played that well all year, but he does it now because he has that desire and instinct to go out and get the job done. That's impressive.

"Desire -- they had it and we didn't. They've won and have had success winning and they didn't want to lose. We have not won historically and in our recent history we have not won -- we don't know what that feels like."

Scott City stretched its lead to 26-21 by the half, and then started the third with a 10-0 run that put a dagger in the Hawks.

Keller scored 10 in the third quarter to help his side up to a 49-30 advantage after three quarters.

Kelly's Jake McClain pushes past Scott City defense during the second quarter in a first-round game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"When he scores, our offense is better, obviously," Dannenmueller said. "He hasn't had the greatest start to the season. We knew it was going to come because he's a good player. I thought the key for him was his defense --that was the best he's been on defense. I thought he and Isaiah set the tone -- Isaiah Berry [defending Kelly's] Skylar Lemons. I thought they were phenomenal, and that's what set the tone for us and everything else fell into place.

"It was all defense. We've struggled scoring this year, but we got some transition points from the defense, and then all of a sudden we hit some outside shots. I thought our defense dictated everything. That allowed us to move better on offense because we kept ahold of the ball."

Trent Pobst contributed 16 points for the Rams, while Jordan Kluesner had 11.

Ty Householder led the Hawks with 17 points, while teammate Levi Alsup notched 10.

"That's what we're trying to find," Garnett said of Scott City's energy and desire. "If we find that, we've got great guys who want to win, we just need to figure out what it takes. I don't think we've done that against a good team."

The first half came fast and furious, with the two teams trading blows. Tied at 10 with 2:45 left in the first quarter, Kelly's Conner Dittlinger made the second of back-to-back buckets to give his side a 12-10 edge, and the Hawks pushed that to 16-10 by the end of the period, thanks to a 3-pointer from Householder and a free throw from Alsup.

That six-point advantage was the largest of the game for Kelly, but Scott City responded well. Keller dropped in a 3-pointer a minute into the second quarter to spark an 8-0 swing, with Kluesner going coast to coast before it was Keller again from the top of the arc, this time over the arm of an outstretched defender, to give the Rams the lead back, 18-16.

Tied at 20 with 3 minutes left until halftime, it was Keller again with a big shot, this one a turnaround jumper in the lane to put Scott City up 22-20. David Smith stretched that advantage to 26-20 -- the Rams' biggest lead of the game to that point -- when he hit a baseline jump shot with 1:10 on the clock.

Alsup hit the front end of a pair of free throws for Kelly and Scott City carried a 26-21 score into the break.

Scott City will take on No. 2 Cape Central in the winner's bracket at 6 p.m. Monday.

Kelly slides into the consolation round, facing Leopold at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Kelly 16 5 9 15 -- 45

Scott City 10 16 23 24 -- 73

KELLY (45) -- Kade Proctor 1, Ty Householder 17, Levi Alsup 10, Jake McClain 2, Skylar Lemons 4, Isai Campos 3, Conner Dittlinger 6, Brent Burke 2. FG 17, FT 9-17, F 13. (3-pointers: Householder 2. Fouled out: none.)

SCOTT CITY (73) -- Dylan Keller 21, Trent Pobst 16, Ty Wilting 2, David Smith 4, Isiah Berry 5, Jordan Kluesner 11, Matt Groves 2, Braden Cox 8, Jaden Kaiser 4. FG 31, FT 5-10 F 18. (3-pointers: Keller 5, Kluesner. Fouled out: None.)