Scott City wins consolation title

Games don't get much more competitive or exciting than Saturday's consolation championship contest of the 57th annual University High School Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center.

Scott City, the No. 12 seed, and No. 14 Delta waged quite an overtime battle, with neither squad leading by more than five points from the middle of the second quarter on.

When the overtime buzzer finally sounded, Scott City had a hard-fought 78-75 victory and the trophy signifying ninth place in the 16-team event as both squads bettered their seeding by several places.

"It was too wild and exciting," said a grinning Scott City coach Kerry Thompson, whose Rams improved their record to 4-6 as they continued their surge after an 0-5 start. "It's a big win for us, especially with Chris Bradshaw going down early in the game with what looks like a broken collarbone.

"He's like a coach on the floor for us and he's our best defender. But we dug down deep and wanted to win it for him. It's the best medicine we could give him. I'm proud of the guys, and we beat a quality team. Delta is getting better and better."

D.J. Walton paced the Rams offensively with 22 points. Also in double figures were Tyler Ward with 14 points and Andy Beck with 12.

Delta (4-8) got 25 points from Joey Keys, 19 from Craig Bock and 14 from Lance Kinder.

Scott City led 18-9 after one quarter, but Delta rallied for a 32-32 halftime tie and things were too close to call the rest of the way, with countless ties and lead changes.

Delta scored four straight points to grab a 64-60 lead with two minutes left in regulation, but Ward hit a layup and Chad Weatherspoon scored inside for a 64-64 tie.

Then came something of a controversial finish. In the closing seconds, Ward blocked a shot by Keys and the ball went out of bounds with 0.7 seconds still appearing on the clock. But the clock was then inexplicably started again and it ran out. Despite protests from Delta coach Robert Stein -- and after a discussion among the officials -- no time was put back on the clock and it was on to overtime.

Scott City led 70-65 early in the four-minute extra period, but Delta stormed back and freshman Brent Menz hit a 3-pointer with 1:35 left for a 74-73 Delta lead.

A Weatherspoon follow shot with 31 seconds left put Scott City up 75-74. The Rams led 76-75 when they missed two free throws with 5.4 seconds left, but Ward followed up the second miss to account for the final margin .