Cape Central tops Jackson 48-42 in epic season trilogy

JACKSON — Cape Central boys’ basketball has spent most of the season overpowering opponents by locking down on them defensively and having a balanced offensive attack.

More often than not, mistakes add up, the frustration builds and the Tigers capitalize — a formula that led coach Lamont Frazier’s squad to a marquee 48-42 win over rival Jackson on Friday night at Jackson High School.

Senior Matayo Rivers had a game-high 12 points as three other Tigers scored double figures for Cape Central (11-4), who turned in a strong second-half performance while controlling the tempo and outplaying Jackson (15-3) in the paint.

“We knew it was going to be a big game,” Rivers said. “Just another one against these guys that we had to come over here for. We knew it was going to be physical. We knew we were going to have to fight hard. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. That's just one thing coach talked about and we prepped for before the game.”

Sure, Rivers had the hot hand, while junior big-man TySeanDre’ Edwards, Mar’K Mills, and Antonio Sims turned in their own big outputs with 10 points apiece. Yet a big piece of Cape Central’s success was due to sophomore Goliath Morris-Young’s late-game heroics.

While Morris-Young only tallied four points, the big forward had the play of the game when he scored an effortful second chance layup between two defenders to push the lead to 45-42 with 1:05 remaining. Cape Central finally broke free of the Indians from there.

Frazier spoke highly of his 6-foot-4 sophomore.

“That wasn't an Xs and Os play,” Frazier said. “That was just a young man going to get it. I think once he gets a chance to see exactly how he did that, hopefully that's a huge feather in his cap and lights a little bit of a fire underneath him, saying, ‘hey, man, you know what? I like playing this way. This is something that we need to do more of.’”

Friday’s premier showdown was a rematch of last month's Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament finals classic won by the Indians — a game that Rivers said “stung for a while.”

This one didn't have the same highlight-reel drama, but still was a tough rivalry battle. Jackson led by five at the break, but Cape Central hung around and continued inching closer as the second half winded down.

Sophomore Jory Thoma led the Indians with a team-high 11 points, while freshman Jon Ernst chipped in with 10. Cape Central kept star senior Kole Deck at bay for most of the night, as he was held to just nine points.

Frazier said the gameplay revolved around keying in on Deck’s scoring prowess, which forced Jackson to change up their offensive scheme.

“Just making them do something different to the best of our abilities,” Frazier said. “Finding a way to make them uncomfortable, break their rhythm and then giving ourselves an opportunity to take advantage of if we could do that. The last time we played we couldn't do that. We couldn't break the rhythm, and obviously they capitalized on it. But again, now that the game is over, whatever we brought to the table this time around obviously paid off.”

It was Jackson who broke things open first when a Deck 3-pointer capped a 9-0 run to close out the opening quarter and give the Indians an early 15-8 lead. With 6:10 left in the first half, Thoma’s 3-pointer stretched the lead to 21-10 before Cape Central answered with a late spurt to cut the deficit to 28-23 at the break.

“Once we got down by 11, really settling down and just kind of chipping away at it was huge,” Frazier said. “And obviously it switched some momentum to our favor. I knew if we continued to just be ourselves and play the way that we should have, there was going to be a break at some point. We just had to be ready to take advantage of it.”

Indeed they were.

In the final moments of the third quarter, the Tigers charged back to take their first lead of the game spanning halftime after Rivers’ last-second jumper handed them a 37-36 advantage.

Then, after pulling ahead 43-42, Cape Central had a highlight-reel play by Mills with 2:06 remaining. Once Jackson senior Kolton Thoma stole the ball from the Tiger forward at mid court, Mills chased him down and blocked his layup attempt at the board to send a roar through the Cape Central student section.

Following Morris-Young’s clutch second chance layup, Deck missed a corner 3 with 36 seconds left before Mills was fouled after grabbing the rebound. His free throw made it a 46-42 ball game to essentially ice it.

The Tiger victory snaps Jackson’s 11-game winning streak and gives Cape Central its second win over the Indians this season.

“We can't afford to have a hangover from this situation just because we've got another tough contest coming up on Tuesday, and then we've got contests on Friday and Saturday," Frazier said. "So, we don't have time to think about what we did yesterday. We’ve got to keep figuring out how we're going to win tomorrow.”

Looking ahead, Cape Central returns to its home court on Tuesday, Jan. 28, when the Tigers host Hillsboro (8-7) at 7:30 p.m. Jackson continues its SEMO Conference stretch with a home game against Notre Dame (8-6) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.