By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

The Bearcat Event Center played host to the Class 1 State Sectional games Tuesday, night. In the evening’s opener, the Scott County Central Braves faced off against the Risco Tigers at 6 p.m. In the 7:30 nightcap, the Naylor Lady Eagles faced the Delta Lady Bobcats.


In the boys game, Scott Central rolled past Risco, winning by 67 points. Scott Central standout Otto Porter ended the evening with a double-double, scoring 21 points and hauling in 16 rebounds, despite being plagued by a respiratory illness.

“Bubba’s [Porter’s nickname] been kind of sick with what we think is bronchitis, but he battled through it,” SCC head coach Kenyon Wright said after the game. “We don’t have to shoot outside a lot because we have a little size, and we like to get buckets in the paint.” Other notable performers for the Braves were Stewart Johnson, leading the way with 27 points, and Lawrence ‘Reggie’ Woodson, who chipped in 13.

“Stewart can put points up. Just like all my kids, he can put the ball in the hole if given the opportunity,” Wright said of Johnson, “and I think he was given more of an opportunity tonight. He took advantage of the chances he got when they were blocking him [Porter] down.”

“Reggie’s done well off the bench down the stretch,” Wright said of Woodson. “He came in there and got seven steals in about two quarters, took it down, and put the ball in the hole to get some offense rolling for us. He’s probably our fourth leading scorer, and coming off the bench, he does a good job of getting in there and playing hard.”



Despite the lopsided score, Wright praised Risco’s effort.

“We knew tonight was going to be a team effort. Risco did a good job of sticking to their gameplan and pressed us and ran the floor hard, and got some easy buckets that we weren’t able to keep in front of them.”

Risco head coach Brandon Blankenship credited his team’s hard work throughout the year as a key contribution to their successful season, despite the night’s tough loss.

“Throughout the year I thought we’ve given a great effort,” Blankenship said after the game. “It’s just tough, with Scott County being so good, that they can make you look like you aren’t doing a whole lot out there even though you are. I’m just proud of our kids for not quitting. They got down big early, and it would have been easy to throw in the towel, but I don’t feel like they did.”



Notable performers for the Tigers were Jeremy Fowler, Austin White, and Christopher Pavy, who led the team in scoring with eight points apiece.

“We have four to five guards who can hit outside shots for us,” Blankenship said of Fowler and White. “We knew it would be tough with Otto [Porter] for us to get anything inside, and he blocked most of our attempts in the first half, so we were trying to drive and kick to the outside, and they [Fowler and White] were able to knock some down for us.”

Blankenship praised SCC star Porter, and again credited his team’s effort in the paint.


“We were in this position last year when we played them, so we halfway knew what to expect,” Blankenship commented on Porter. “We knew we couldn’t contain him with the personel we had, but we didn’t give him many open looks, and I was proud of that. He’s just that good of a player.”

The Scott County Central Braves will move on to the next round of the State Playoffs, where they will face Chadwick on Saturday, March 12 at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.


 Photos above Top Photo: Otto Porter puts up a shot during Tuesday night's State Playoff action at the BEC.
Middle photo: Risco's Brandon Bixler posts up against SCC's Otto Porter.
Bottom photo: Lawrence Woodson puts in two of his 13 points during Scott County Central's 108-41 victory over Risco Tuesday night.

                                                                     

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
SCOTT COUNTY	31	35	29	13	108
RISCO	11	8	8	14	41

SCOTT COUNTY: S. Johnson - 27 O. Porter-21 Steward-17. D. Porter-14. Woodson-13. Freed-5. T. Johnson-4. Johnson-3. Minner-2. C. Porter-2.

RISCO: C. Pavy-8. White-8. Fowler-8. G Bixler-6. J. Pavy-5. Bennett-2. Cummins-2. Bixler-2.

Naylor vs. Delta Girls




Naylor and Delta faced off in the nightcap at 7:30. After a close contest, Naylor was able to defeat Delta by a final score of 55-50. The Lady Eagles will move on to face Exeter on Saturday (March 12) at Three Rivers College. Tipoff is set for 2:45 p.m.