Hogan Prep, Crane, Scott County Central win Missouri boys basketball titles

After earning second, third and fourth place finishes at previous Show-Me Showdowns, the so-called easier legs of the state championship winning cycle, Hogan Prep Charter (Kansas City) finally broke through Saturday and reeled in the school's first state basketball title at Mizzou Arena in Columbia with a 61-46 win over Strafford.

"It feels good to be the first (Hogan Prep) team to ever come in and win the state title," elated Ram senior Dominique Washington said after the school's life-long basketball championship drought as both Bishop Hogan and Hogan Prep was snapped. "I made three trips to get down here and it was a struggle each time.

"This year we came together and we finally got what we wanted. It took a lot of hard work. We went through some adversity too. But as you can see we got what we wanted – a state championship."

Hogan Prep entered the 2010-11 season as one of the favorites to win it all, so it's no surprise that the Rams swept through Stockton, Penney and Charleston on their way to the finals. A four game losing skid just before districts had coach Steve Stitzer and his squad second-guessing the direction they were headed.

"They stepped up in practice," Stitzer said. "The run needed to go. Then we started right into districts. They didn't like the taste of losing anymore."

"It's like one of our coaches said, ‘they'd be doing a 100-meter dash and we'd stop at 99…the other team would stop at 100,'" Ram junior guard Maurice Mason pointed out. "Who is gonna win? The other team. You gotta push your hardest."

Strafford started strong, taking a 5-0 lead out of the gate on a 3-pointer by Jared Yarberry and a pair of free throws from Anthony Peters. But the Rams closed the first quarter with a 13-3 run to go up 13-8 and never trailed again. Stitzer's squad led 32-20 at intermission and 44-34 going into the fourth quarter.

"I just didn't want a St. Louis team to get all of them (championships)," Stitzer recalled with a grin. "Every time I come down here it seems like they get them. That's a pretty good objective to have."

The Rams (23-8) were led in scoring by Broderick Newbill's game-high 17 points. Mason added 12 points to the win, while Washington and Robert Thompson chipped in nine points each. Anthony Riddley dished out six assists.

Yarberry and Peters led Strafford with 12 points each. Conner Wilson finished with 10 points. Dylan Barnum pulled down 10 rebounds in the loss.

CLASS 2 – Crane 77, Bernie 63
Crane's Levi Cook operated well under pressure and at a hectic pace Saturday in guiding the Pirates to the 14-point championship win. The junior guard scored 42 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and dished out eight assists. Cody Lumpkin and Zach Akins scored 10 points in the triumph. Although he didn't reach his career high of 44 points, Cook did have an outstanding performance in what he called the No. 1 win so far in his prep career. Jordan McGowan led the way for Bernie with 23 points. Sammy Walker and Jesse Shelton added 15 and 13 points respectively.

CLASS 1 – Scott County Central (Sikeston) 69, Dadeville 54
Otto Porter guided the Braves to a third straight state championship by scoring 27 points and pulling down nine rebounds to run his 2011 two-game point total to 61. Dominique Porter added 18 points in Saturday's title game, while Stewart Johnson chipped in with 11. Zachary Medley and Trenton Bergmann each made four of eight 3-pointers in the loss and scored 19 and 14 points respectively. Dakota Webb contributed 13 points.

RECORD BREAKERS
After shattering his father's 1976 single-game rebounding record with 35 boards in last year's championship win over Pilot Grove, Otto Porter continued planting his name in the Final Four record books over the weekend. The 6-foot-9 Porter climbed to the top of the Show-Me Showdown Career Scoring Chart after scoring 34 points in a 78-42 semifinal win over Jefferson. The Brave senior then added to the record by pouring in 27 points in Saturday's championship game, giving him 191 points in eight Showdown games. Porter moved ahead of Christian Brothers College's Gary Garrison, who set the previous mark of 161 points in six games from 1958-60.

During his postseason career, Porter helped Scott County Central to its state-leading 13th, 14th and 15th championships by averaging 23.9 points a game. The Braves finished third when Porter was a freshman.

Scott County Central's third straight state championship Saturday tied Vashon for fourth place on the Showdown's most consecutive championships won list. The Braves own the top spot at seven after winning state titles from 1985-91. Vashon's three straight state titles occurred from 2000-02. Scott County Central is the owner of 15 state titles, while Vashon has earned 11 first place finishes. Scott County Central's appearance in the 2011 Showdown allowed the Braves to move ahead of Kansas City-Central and into third place in Final Four appearances with 16. Charleston's appearance in the Class 3 semifinals over the weekend allowed the Bluejays to compete in their second place 19th Showdown.

Cook's 42 championship game points didn't reestablish the state record held by Webster Groves' Jim Krebs, who scored 61 points in a 1953 third place loss to Marshall. But he did move into a tie for ninth with Waynesville's Bill George and Charleston's Lamont Frazier.

BOYS CONSOLATION RESULTS
CLASS 3 – Charleston 87, Elsberry 79
CLASS 2 – Wellington-Napoleon 90, New Bloomfield 67
CLASS 1 – Jefferson (Conception Junction) 68, La Plata 60

MISSOURI SMALL SCHOOL BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT SCORING LEADERS
The Show-Me Showdown's six leading scorers in each classification are listed below in order of their team finish

Class 3
Broderick Newbill, Hogan Prep Academy 38 (19)
Maurice Mason, Hogan Prep Academy 36 (18)
Dominique Washington, Hogan Prep Academy 28 (14)
Conner Wilson, Strafford 34 (17)
Ryan Parham, Charleston 28 (14)
Matt Loesing, Elsberry 46 (23)
MVP: Maurice Mason, Hogan Prep Academy

Class 2
Levi Cook, Crane 66 (33)
Sammy Walker, Bernie 39 (19.5)
Jordan McGowan, Bernie 38 (19)
Blake Seitz, Wellington-Napoleon 51 (25.5)
Taylor Bryant, Wellington-Napoleon 48 (24)
Aaron Bedsworth, New Bloomfield 46 (23)
MVP: Levi Cook, Crane

Class 1
Otto Porter, Scott County Central 61 (30.5)
Dominique Porter, Scott County Central 28 (14)
Zach Medley, Dadeville 39 (19.5)
Trenton Bergmann, Dadeville 29 (14.5)
Dakota Webb, Dadeville 26 (13)
Peyton Swift, La Plata 26 (13)
MVP: Otto Porter, Scott County Central