SCOTT CITY'S OT WIN SETS UP SEMIFINALS

Down 13 at halftime, it didn't take John Wooden, the legendary UCLA coach, to diagnose Scott City's ailments.

"Coach (Derek McCord) started yelling at me," said Scott City's Jon Beck, "and he said he's going to get somebody else in there if I don't start shooting it -- I'm a shooting guard. So I started shooting a little bit."

And making a lot.

Beck, the Rams' excellent 5-foot-11 junior, scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and overtime, and fourth-seeded Scott City nipped No. 5 Delta 61-57 late Saturday night in a quarterfinal game in the University High School Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center.

Scott City, which remained unbeaten at 9-0, will meet top-seeded Charleston (8-1) at 7 tonight in the first semifinal.

The second semifinal, at 8:30 tonight, will pit No. 2 Kelly (9-0) against No. 6 Cape Central (5-2).

There will be four other games today: consolation semifinals pitting Oran vs. Advance (1 p.m.) and Scott County Central vs. Bell City (2:30 p.m.) and fifth-place semifinals matching Woodland vs. Delta (4 p.m.) and Notre Dame vs. Jackson (5:30 p.m.).

After Beck's 10-footer rimmed out at the end of regulation, he manned the helm in overtime, scoring eight of Scott City's 12 points and outscoring Delta's seven points by himself.

Beck, who also grabbed eight rebounds, hit a 3-pointer with 1 minute 52 seconds remaining to give the Rams a 53-52 lead and hit another 3 in Scott City's next possession, making the score 56-52.

Delta's Shawn Kinder, a 5-11 junior who finished with 12 points, answered Beck, scoring the next five points on a 3-pointer and 15-foot jumper to hand the lead back to the Bobcats, 57-56, with 26 seconds left.

Then with 16 seconds remaining, Scott City's Adam Spinks found 6-5 sophomore Ryan Weatherspoon inside. Weatherspoon scored, was fouled and completed the 3-point play.

With the Rams leading 59-57, Kinder tried again, but missed a short baseline jumper. Beck then made two free throws with three seconds left to ice the win.

"We felt like in the first half (Beck) was catching and passing up several shot opportunities," McCord said. "If he gets a good look at it, we want Jon shooting the basketball. Jon came up big a couple of times for us with the 3s. That's the kind of player he's been all season for us."

Delta (7-2) led 34-21 at halftime as Garrett DeBrock, a fine 6-2 senior, scored 10 of his team-high 24 points in the half and Andy Blattel 11 of his 13. Kinder added seven points.

"We knew their two big players, Kinder and DeBrock, would play big tonight, and they did," McCord said. "They're both tremendous players. They shot the ball well. It was a great game."

Then in the third quarter, DeBrock scored only two points and Kinder and Blattel were held scoreless as Scott City outscored the Bobcats 21-4 in the period and led 42-38 entering the fourth quarter. Beck scored 10 points in the third and Tim Lowery nine of his 16.

"Normally when we have somebody down ... we usually put the game away," said Delta coach Nate Crowden. "We just threw the ball away and stopped playing defense. We just didn't play in the second half. (We) might have thought the game was over (at halftime)."

Said McCord: "In the second half we got more movement in our motion offense and we were able to free up Jon and Timmy for some shots, and they knocked them down. They hit some big shots."

DeBrock took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points and outscoring Scott City by himself. After a 3-pointer by Lowery gave the Rams a 50-48 lead with two minutes remaining, Scott City missed another 3 and committed a turnover before Blattel scored inside with 20 seconds left to tie the game at 50-50.

* Notre Dame's Robert Sander, who was taken off the court on a stretcher for precautionary measures after hitting the floor hard during Saturday's game against Kelly, was reported to be doing fine Sunday.

Sander, who hit his head and neck area hard in the fall, was taken to a local hospital Saturday but checked out fine and was released.

"They (the trainers) just didn't want to take any chances because he was pretty sore in the head and neck area," said Notre Dame coach Chris Janet. "But Robert seems to be fine, even though he's still a little sore."

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Janet said Sander is questionable for today's consolation game with Jackson.

U-High Tournament

Saturday's Results

(Quarterfinals)

(1) Charleston 63, (9) Woodland 62, OT

(2) Kelly 80, (7) Notre Dame 68

(6) Cape Central 51, (3) Jackson 46

(4) Scott City 61, (5) Delta 57, OT

(Consolation)

(12) Advance 51, (13) Oak Ridge 38

(10) Scott Co. 62, (15) Chaffee 56