PORTAGEVILLE NIPS SCOTT CITY IN THRILLER

SCOTT CITY -- For the second straight game, Scott City High's boys basketball team played one of the season's most highly-anticipated regular-season contests.

And, for the second straight game, the Rams came up short.

Scott City, coming off Friday night's loss at Dexter, had its 22-game home-court winning streak snapped Tuesday night as Portageville squeezed out a thrilling 73-68 decision in clash of Class 2A powers.

The Rams, who earlier in the day had been bumped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the 2A state poll, fell to 23-3. Portageville, which had been ranked for several weeks early in the season before dropping out of the poll, improved to 21-3. The teams will be favored to meet in a rematch in the upcoming 2A sectionals as they are seeded first in their respective districts next week.

Matt Whitson led the Bulldogs offensively with 22 points. Rory Booker and William Durden each added 16 points for Portageville.

Scott City got 20 points from Ryan Weatherspoon, 12 from Ben Sample and 11 from Ronald Watson.

Portageville held a 35-31 halftime lead and opened up a 15-point advantage in the third quarter, only to see Scott City storm back and ultimately take a one-point lead in the final period. But the Bulldogs were too tough down the stretch.

Meadow Heights 74, Chaffee 73

PATTON -- Joe Jones hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Meadow Heights to a victory on its homecoming.

Chaffee's Perry Rice poured in 38 points but it wasn't enough to lift the Red Devils. Also in double figures for Chaffee (2-19) were Chase Eskew with 14 and Sean Hampton with 11.

Meadow Heights (2-19) got 16 points from Tyler Thompson and 14 from Brandon Tallent.

The Panthers trailed 44-29 at halftime before mounting a big second-half rally.

Scott Central 84, Bell City 70

BELL CITY -- Jreece Johnson, by far the area's leading scorer, poured in 40 points to lift Scott County Central.

Johnson hit his first eight 3-pointers, all coming in the first half, when he scored 34 of his team's 43 points. Todd Blissett added 27 points for the Braves (15-9) while Nick Wheeler had 13.

"Jreece always has a big night, it seems like," said Scott Central coach Steve Wells. "But he was really on tonight."

Bell City (10-13) got 17 points from both Gabe Scherer and Eric Henry. Jason Rampley added 12 and Nathan Walter contributed 11.

Delta 68, Kelly 63

BENTON -- Josh Altenthal pumped in 33 points -- he hit six 3-pointers -- as Delta pulled off an upset of Kelly.

Robert Pruitt was Delta's only other double-figure scorer with 12 points.

Kelly (12-10) got 21 points from Jeremy Skelton and 11 from Jamie Essner.

"Delta really played a good game and Altenthal just had a fantastic night. It seemed like he couldn't miss," said Kelly coach Kent Mangels.

The tight game was tied at 46-46 after three quarters before the Bobcats outscored the Hawks 22-17 in the final period.

Woodland 77, Oran 70

WOODLAND -- Jason Greer and C. W. Stacy combined for more than half of Woodland's points to lead the Cardinals.

Greer poured in a game-high 24 points while Stacy added 20 points. Also scoring in double figures for Woodland (12-10) were Matt Cutsinger with 11 points and Jared Houchins with 10.

"It was a well-played game by both teams," said Woodland coach Jennings Wilkinson. "We had a 12-point lead a couple of times in the second half, but they made a run at us late in the fourth to keep things close."

Adam Friga's 20 points paced Oran (14-9). The Eagles also got 19 points from Travis Friga and 15 from Philip Seyer.

Woodland led 40-35 at halftime and Oran continued to hang tough in the second half.

Leopold 55, Oak Ridge 47

OAK RIDGE -- Three Leopold players score in double figures to lead the Wildcats.

Jason Van de Ven led the way for Leopold (17-8) with 16 points while Danny Nenninger tossed in 13 points and Ashton James added 12.

Oak Ridge (7-14) was paced by Ben Fadler with 18 points.

The Blue Jays trailed just 27-25 at halftime and 39-38 after three quarters before the Wildcats finally pulled away.

"It was the best team defensive effort of the season for us," said Oak Ridge coach Paul Lynch. "It was still a one-possesion game until the last minute of play. Our kids played their hearts out, but fell a little short."

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Oran 39, Delta 27

ORAN -- Oran improved to 13-8 as Sara Heisserer scored 14 points.

Delta's Rebecca Below led all scorers with 15 points.

The Lady Eagles trailed 12-11 at halftime but pulled away in the second half.