FINAL from Columbia: SCC wins it 78-44

Drew Thomas finished with 31 points and Otto Porter added 17 as the Braves advanced to Saturday's state title game.

I'll try to write more later, but for now, I'm off to the interview room.

Check out Friday's Southeast Missourian for complete coverage.

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The running clock has made its appearance here at Mizzou Arena in the fourth quarter.

The Braves wore down Glasgow behind 29 points from Drew Thomas and 17 from Otto Porter.

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Glasgow's leading scorer, Jay Lee, picked up his fourth foul during the third quarter, and Drew Thomas picked up his third.

Thomas has 29 points and four rebounds. Otto Porter has a nice double-double, with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Randy Timmons has 10 boards.

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Bobby Hatchett just picked up his sixth assist on a nice pass to Drew Thomas, who layed it in and got fouled. He'll go to the line trying for his 28th point of the game.

SCC leads it 56-35 with 4:15 left in the third.

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The Braves aren't letting up, but Glasgow's Jay Lee is doing a nice job of keeping his team in the game. But he just picked up his fourth foul with about 5 minutes left in the third quarter.

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Drew Thomas put on a nice show in the first half with 21 points. Sophomore Otto Porter added 11 points and six rebounds.

Scott County hit 57 percent of its shots in the first half.

Scott County seemed to calm the nerves in the second quarter. The Braves finished the half with 11 turnovers, but seven of those came in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game.

Glasgow turned it over 14 times. Jay Lee led the Yellowjackets with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. He's a shifty little guard. He's listed at 6-foot, but that might be if he's standing on a box.

Glasgow went 2 of 11 from long range, while the Braves went 2 of 7 on 3-pointers.

We've got some dancers out on the court in blue dresses and silver moon boots.

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Drew Thomas is up to 21 points here in the first qarter, and Otto Porter has added 7. The Braves contine to shoot well, hitting 60 percent of their shots.

SCC leads 34-21 with 2:17 left in the first half.

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Drew Thomas looks like a man on a mission. He's scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He just chucked up a shot while getting fouled. He made the shot and will go to the line after the timeout.

SCC leads 26-14 with 5:39 left in the second.

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We're at the end of the first quarter, and Scott County leads it 20-10. The Braves turned the ball over eight times, bt shot 60 percent from the field.

Drew Thomas went to work, scoring nine points in the quarter. He's shooting 4 of 6.

The Braves should be up by more, but turnovers got in the way.

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We've got a close game so far, as the Braves lead it 12-8 with 3:16 left in the first.

Porter and Thomas each have four points for SCC, which is shooting 60 percent from the field.

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We're under way here at Mizzou Arena, and the Braves jumped out to a 6-2 lead with 6:05 left in the first.

Glasgow is 1 of 6 from the field so far, but Scott County has turned the ball over twice.

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Drew Thomas is on the videoboard asking fans to exhibit good sportsmanship.

No surprises in the Braves' starting lineup -- Otto Porter, Drew Thomas, Desmin Williams, Bobby Hatchett and Randy Timmons.

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We've made it into Mizzou Arena and we've got the wireless Internet up and running. The teams are taking the court now.

Chris Smith, Kit Doyle and I enjoyed a little Shakespeare's Pizza before heading over here. The stands are starting to fill, and there looks to be a nice contingent of orange-clad fans.