Oran girls basketball defeats Scott County Central to win fourth straight conference crown

Oran's Leah Cauble (32) puts up a shot while guarded by Scott County Central's Bre'Asia Jones (1) and Samantha Coffee (0) during the Lady Eagles~ 91-76 win over the Bravettes in the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament title game Thursday at Oran High School.

Jacob Wiegand

ORAN, Mo. -- With the championship secured once more, the Oran girls basketball struck a pose.

The Eagles crowded along the baseline and held up four fingers as the cameras snapped and popped.

For the fourth consecutive season, Oran is Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament champions as the top-seeded Eagles defeated No. 2 Scott County Central 91-76 at Oran High School on Thursday night.

Eagles have their picture taken after their 91-76 win over the Scott County Central Bravettes in the 2019 Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, at Oran High School.

Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

With the win, seniors Katelyn Streeter, Madison Ramsey, Claire Ramsey, Jessie Long and Leah Cauble finish their high schools careers with a perfect mark in the conference tournament.

"It's nice to win this conference four years in a row," Oran coach Ethan Evans said. "It's pretty tough teams. Scott County's going to be a force to reckon with in Class 1, that's for dang sure. This says a lot about the program, and the girls that keep coming up for us to win four straight."

Cauble, who topped the 3,000-point mark earlier this season, led the way with 49 points, nine assist and six rebounds.

With a smaller guard on Cauble for most of the game, the senior star took advantage, backing her down and then turning and putting the ball up once she received the entry pass.

Cauble's ability to score in the post in the first half opened up driving lanes to the basket in the final two quarters.

"It's something we focus on anytime they put a smaller guard on her," Evans said. "They're playing man-to-man, try to get her in the paint and try to take advantage of her post moves and her strength down there."

Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

Oran's Kaylee Payne (14) and Scott County Central's Trinity Thomas (2) go after the ball during the Lady Eagles~ 91-76 win over the Bravettes in the 2019 Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, at Oran High School.

Jessie Long added 13 points, five assists and five rebounds, and Katie Webb had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Kaylee Payne added 11 points and five rebounds.

The Eagles (13-5) scored the first seven points of the game and led by nine after one quarter, 25-14. Cauble had 15 points in those opening eight minutes.

Oran started the second quarter on a 13-3 run to take a 38-17 lead. Fast-break points fueled the spurt with the Eagles turning SCC turnovers and missed shots into points, often Cauble layups.

The Bravettes (14-4) didn't fold, though, and scored the next 13 points to cut Oran's lead to eight, 38-30. Samantha Coffee had eight points during that run, and 10 in the quarter. She finished with 15 points plus a team-high nine rebounds and two blocks.

Bre'Asia Jones led SCC with 20 points plus seven rebounds and four assists. Trinity Thomas have seven points and five assists, and Hannah Bode chipped in 11 points.

By halftime, Oran had stretched the lead back to double digits, taking a 48-35 lead into the locker room.

"We were rebounding at one point," Evans said. "We did a good job of hitting the boards and getting the ball out quickly to Leah, and then we were able to run the floor and get some easy buckets. Then we quit rebounding, ball's going through the hoop for them. We've got to grab it, take it out, and that slows us down even more."

SCC's Natalie Hubbert opened the scoring in the second half with a 3-pointer to cut Oran's lead to 48-38. That was as close as the Bravettes got the rest of the way.

"I'm proud of my girls," SCC coach Andrew Pullen said. "They came out and fought to the end. It didn't come out like we wanted it, but I feel like they played as hard as they could and we just got to get it back in the gym and fix some little stuff."

Pullen also said facing a stellar Class 2 program like Oran, which has won five consecutive district titles, will also help prepare his Class 1 squad for the postseason.

Oran also has postseason aspirations after falling in the Class 2 quarterfinals last season to eventual state champions Neelyville.

The Eagles hope to repeat their success from two seasons ago when they advanced to state. They'll have to do it without Claire Ramsey, who broke her foot in the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic last month and appears to be out for the season.

"It's an adjustment," Evans said. "Next girl up, be able to step in and fill a little of that void because she did a lot of the little stuff for us. So tough on defense and rebounding. It's taking a team effort to pull her stats together."

Payne also exited the game after taking a shot to the face in the fourth quarter but appeared fine afterward.

SCC (76) -- Samantha Coffee 15, Bre'Asia Jones 20, Trinity Thomas 7, Natalie Hubbert 9, Hannah Bode 11, Alexis Hart 6, Rita Meeker 8. FG 29, FT 13-23, F 20. (3-pointers: Hubbert 3, Hart 2. Fouled out: Meeker.)

ORAN (91) -- Kaylee Payne 10, Katelyn Streeter 3, Madison Ramsey 5, Leah Cauble 49, Jessie Long 13, Katie Webb 11. FG 35, FT 16-23, F 18. (3-pointers: Payne 2, Ramsey, Cauble 2. Fouled out: Webb.)