East Prairie finds its spark, blazes past Oran for road conference victory

Connor Marcum (5) glides through the air for layup during East Prairie's 68-41 at Oran on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024.

Dennis Marshall ~ Standard-Democrat

ORAN, Mo. — East Prairie needed a minute to heat up Tuesday night at Oran, but once it did, there was no stopping the visitors in a 68-41 dismantling of the home team. 

“We came out a little sluggish after being off for a week,” said East Prairie coach Gary Scott. “It took us a while to get going, and we played much better in the second half.  It was good to get a big conference win on the road.”

The game unfolded largely as anticipated, with East Prairie (4-0) eventually pulling away from Oran (2-4) despite a sluggish start. 

Noah Johnson rises up for a basket during East Prairie's 68-41 at Oran on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024.

Dennis Marshall ~ Standard-Democrat

Oran’s Parker Bryant opened the scoring by cleaning up the glass for the first point, but East Prairie countered with Connor Marcum dialing up a 3-point shot and Ty Wallace showcasing his footwork with a slick up-and-under finish. 

Moments later, Marcum delivered a no-look assist to Wallace, pushing the score to 7-2. 

East Prairie’s defense made it defense felt midway through the opening frame when Tripp Shoemaker came up with a block and immediately got rewarded on the other end after Marcum found him on the fast break for an easy layup. 

Despite these flashes, East Prairie struggled to fully pull away early, allowing Oran to climb back into the game. 

A Kole Burger 3-pointer and inside finish by Cole Diebold tied things up at 11-11 with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter. 

But Marcum, already making his mark, dropped another dime, this time to Pyper Rendon in the paint, giving East Prairie a 13-11 advantage heading into the second quarter. 

From there, East Prairie’s fire started to spread as the team pounded the ball inside for four straight buckets at the rim. That left Marcum wide-open in the corner, and he didn’t think twice, draining another triple to push the lead to double digits for the first time at 24-14. 

Oran temporarily stopped the bleeding, cutting the deficit back to single figures with a second-chance bucket from Cooper Bryant. 

Yet, East Prairie seized back the momentum on the final possession of the first half. In a perfectly executed sequence, Marcum took the inbounds pass with six seconds left, drove in space, and found Noah Johnson cutting backdoor for a layup as time expired.

“The play before half worked great,” Scott said. “Marcum caught the ball at half-court and attack the basket. [Johnson] knew to cut to the rim and [Marcum] found him wide open. It was a great display of senior leadership.”

East Prairie’s defense intensity reached a new level in the third quarter, smothering Oran into turnover after turnover — some forced, others unforced, but all devastating. 

“We were able to switch our defense a little and it gave them a little trouble in the third quarter,” Scott said. “We forced some turnovers that led to some easy transition buckets that helped extend the lead.”

Marcum took full advantage, muscling his way through contact for multiple and-one finishes, while Johnson added fuel to the fire with two highlight reel dunks.

“[Johnson] took a hard fall early and I think it affected him for a while,” Scott said. “He seemed to recover and electrified the crowd with a couple of back-to-back dunks with authority. He runs the court well for a big man and has shown he can finish.”

By the end of the third quarter, East Prairie held a commanding 58-34 lead.

The fourth quarter was merely the closing act of East Prairie’s blaze. 

A brief mercy-rule moment came when Marcum lobbed an alley-oop to Johnson, who chose finesse over flash with a simple layup. 

Marcum had an outstanding performance, contributing a game-high 22 points. He also added six steals, five rebounds, and four assists. 

“[Marcum] is a really good point guard,” Scott said. “He has a lot of experience and has started since he was a freshman. He is an unselfish player and has become really good at finding the open teammate.”

Johnson was equally impressive, scoring 20 points on 12-of-17 total shots (field goals and free throws), with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Other top contributors for East Prairie included Wallace with 11 points, four rebounds, four steals, and three assists; Shoemaker with four points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks; and Rendon with four points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

“I feel like [Wallace, Rendon and Shoemaker] did a good job early on attacking the basket,” Scott said. “They helped us a lot during the first quarter when we came out sluggish.”

East Prairie will be on the road at Oak Ridge (2-5) on Friday, Dec. 20, while Oran won’t be back in action until the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament against Chaffee (3-3) on Thursday, Dec. 26.

“One thing I’d like to add is that we’ve had great fan support,” Scott concluded. “We really appreciate them and the support."

EAST PRAIRIE 68, ORAN 41

East Prairie (68) — Connor Marcum 22, Noah Johnson 20, Ty Wallace 11, Tripp Shoemaker 4, Pyper Rendon 4, Jay White 3, Chase Childers 3, Tavion Ware 1. FG: 26. FT: 10-13. F: 16. (3-pointers: Marcum 2, White 1, Childers 1. Fouled out: None.)

Oran (41) — Kole Burger 12, Parker Bryant 5, Cole Diebold 4, Cooper Bryant 4, Rylan White 3, Carson Kern 3, Colyn Goodale 3, Reid Hobbs 3, Rylan Romas 1. FG: 16. FT: 5-14. F: 15. (3-pointers: Burger 3, White 1. Fouled out: None.)