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Scott County Central boys basketball returns to the win column, squeaks out win over Kelly 88-78
SIKESTON — Using its aggressiveness to its benefit, Scott County Central returned to the win column on Monday night.
The Braves defeated Kelly, at Ronnie Cookson Gymnasium, 88-78, after back-to-back losses on Friday and Saturday.
Keshawn Sanders was nothing short of fantastic for Scott County Central (12-10), as he finished with 37 points.
Unstoppable at the rim, Sanders scored most of his points off of his aggressiveness and athleticism, which Kelly (8-11) struggled to defend. Sanders had 11 of his 12 field goal’s come on 2-pointers.
Overall, he shot 12 of 20 (60 percent) from the floor. He only attempted a pair of shots from beyond the arc.
Despite, Sanders scoring 37 points, Kelly found a way to claw right back into the game in the fourth quarter.
Leading by 17 points heading into the fourth, the Braves gave up 28 points in the final period, as Kelly cut it down to nine points with a little over one minute left to play.
“Kelly played a tough game tonight,” Scott County Central head coach Matt Cline said. “It felt good; I think we had 12-15 hours the other night, between Oran and Kennett the next morning. I was proud of them. I felt like we came out, slept walked through the first quarter, quarter and a half, and then we kind of got our legs under us. Then in the last three or four minutes of the game, we didn’t play really smart, but for about two, two and a half quarters, I thought we played pretty well.”
Turnovers proved to be a glaring issue for the Braves — who finished with 24 for the game.
Likewise, though, the Hawks had the same problem in their own right. Kelly committed 22 turnovers, as both teams had 11 each in the first half.
“I thought a lot of them were unforced turnovers,” Cline said. “Trying to thread the needle, I think we tried to look a little too cute with the ball, instead of just taking it down and playing solid. I think we probably turned it over about 10-11 times in the first quarter, again, which was a big problem for us the other night against Oran. We’ve got to start securing the basketball better.”
Going into Monday, the game plan focused upon two objectives for Kelly — force the Braves out of the paint and make Landon Glueck take contested shots.
In the first half, the game plan was not executed well, as Glueck hit three of his four 3-pointers, and Sanders was able to knife his way into the Hawks defense at will and convert for higher percentage buckets.
“We did a terrible job of that in the first half,” Kelly head coach Ryan Garnett said. “They got to the paint when they wanted, they made their shots, they elevate well, they play hard, they’re long, quick, and we didn’t adjust well. Coming out in the second half, we reviewed what the game plan was. Again, it took us probably halfway through the third quarter to readjust.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well at all, we didn’t finish at the basket, we couldn’t knock it down from outside, and our defensive game turned into the only way we could stop them was to foul.”
Scott County Central attempted 40 free throws in the game, as the Hawks committed 25 fouls.
One thing that was positive for the Hawks, though, was the play off the bench, from Gavin Jansen.
Standing at 6-3, the freshman was a force in the Kelly comeback in the fourth quarter. He scored 21 of the team’s 28 points in the quarter, and 21 of his team-high 31 in the frame also.
“He’s coming off the bench, as a freshman, and has been one of our leading scorers over the last 10 games,” Garnett said. “The only thing he needs to work on, and he knows it, is his on-ball defense. He showed a lot more aggression there in the fourth quarter, both offensively and defensively, helping well, rebounding well, getting up in the air; first half, he made a couple of freshman mistakes, but the future is bright for Kelly basketball with him in it.”
Jansen shot 12 of 24 (50 percent) from the floor, while also grabbing five rebounds.
| Kelly | 16 | 17 | 17 | 28 | — | 78 |
| SCC | 17 | 24 | 26 | 21 | — | 88 |
KELLY (78) — Gavin Jansen 31, Bryce Morgan 23, Devin Heuring 7, Drew Dirnberger 6, Luis Logeman 2, Jay Noon 2, Matthew Agin 1. FG 30, FT 14-21, F 25. (3-pointers: Morgan 2, Heuring, Jansen. Fouled out: Dirnberger)
SCC (88) — Keshawn Sanders 37, Landon Glueck 24, Garry Wilkerson 11, Kioki Johnson 10, Keron Banks 6. FG 28, FT 27-40, F 19. (3-pointers: Glueck 4, Sanders. Fouled out: Sanders)