Oran girls basketball shakes off slow start, cruises past St. Vincent 65-33 in New Year's Invitational semifinal

Oran's Leah Cauble reaches for the ball while being guarded by St. Vincent's Faith Kapp during a semifinal in the Delta New Year's Invitational Tournament on Wednesday at Delta High School.

Andrew J. Whitaker

DELTA, Mo. -- A slow start made way to a big second quarter for top-seeded Oran girls basketball in the Delta New Year's Invitational Tournament on Wednesday, and the Eagles rolled past fourth-seeded St. Vincent 65-33 in a semifinal at Delta High School.

Missing one of its key pieces, St. Vincent (7-4) struggled to compete in the paint, and Oran's dynamic duo of Leah Cauble and Jessie Long took care of business.

Cauble led all scorers with 27 points to go with six assists and two steals.

Jessie Long finished with 21 points on 10 of 11 shooting, including 8 of 8 in the first half, and also pulled down seven rebounds with five steals.

"[Long] really did a good job of getting good position in the first half, and the guards were getting it to her," Oran coach Ethan Evans said. "She also did a pretty nice job of running the floor and getting some easy baskets."

ANDREW J. WHITAKER ~ awhitaker@semissourian.com OranŐs Kaylee Payne, left, and St. VincentŐs Kati Schnurbusch, right, fight for the ball during the New Year's Tournament Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017 at Delta High School.

Andrew J. Whitaker

St. Vincent was missing junior starting center Jackie Verseman to illness and had no answer for Long in the paint.

"Even if Jackie isn't feeling well, even if she's standing in the lane, it still makes an impact," St. Vincent coach Tim Winkler said. "... She probably wouldn't have made up 34 points for us tonight, but it might have been a little different ball game.

"[Oran is] a very good ball club. They've got good length, and they're quick. Now we have an idea of where we stand, and right now they're going to be the No. 1 seed (in the district). ... We know how much we need to improve if we're going to win a district title. I hate losing, but a good experience tonight."

Oran (9-0) was 28 of 59 from the field.

The Indians struggled offensively all night, shooting 12 of 40 from the floor.

St. Vincent got six points each from Jenna Winkler, Corin Carroll and Faith Kapp. Carroll had five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

A sluggish start saw Oran clinging to a one-point lead late in the first quarter, but St. Vincent struggled to find offense. And the Eagles got things going with a 7-0 run during the final 1 minute, 35 seconds of the period. Cauble hit back-to-back shots before Kaylee Payne hit a 3 from the top at the buzzer to claim a 15-6 advantage for the top seed after 8 minutes.

Abby Buchheit opened the second quarter with a 3 for the Indians, but Oran quickly answered, with another Payne 3 capping a one-minute, 9-0 swing for the Eagles.

Oran then took that 24-9 lead and pushed its advantage past the 20-point mark when Cauble took a steal coast to coast for a layup and a 36-15 lead with 2:50 left in the quarter.

By the time halftime rolled around, St. Vincent trailed 41-18.

"We got off to a pretty bad start," Evans said. "I was on the verge of a meltdown early. But we did get it going pretty good in the second quarter. St. Vincent likes to play that slower pace, and we knew that. We knew that we'd have to pick it up to play the pace of game we wanted to."

The second half brought little relief for the Indians, as Cauble went for 14 points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer at 4:12 that gave the Eagles a 30-point advantage, 52-22.

Soon after, Oran pushed its lead to the largest of the night, 56-22.

A Cauble drive closed out the third quarter and made it a 32-point margin going into the final period, and that's where the gap stayed through a stalemate in the fourth.

In a repeat of last year's final, Oran will play Saxony Lutheran in the tournament championship at 7:30 p.m. today.

"It's going to have to be a faster start," Evans said. "We can't play like that or we're going to be down 10 or 12 points pretty quick."

ST. VINCENT (33) -- Kati Schnurbusch 1, Jenna Winkler 6, Corin Carroll 6, Faith Kapp 6, Abby Buchheit 5, Jamie Best 2, Lexie Anderson 2, Hannah Golto 3, Autumn Francis 2. FG 12, FT 8-12, F 7. (3-pointers: Buchheit. Fouled out: None.)

ORAN (65) -- Brianna Stause 3, Kaylee Payne 8, Leah Cauble 27, Jessie Long 21, Makenzie Graviett 6. FG 28, FT 4-8, F 13. (3-pointers: Payne 2, Stause, Cauble, Long. Fouled out: None.)