Edwards,Mills lead Cape Central's charge in Southeast Missourian Tournament opener

The No. 2 seed Cape Central Tigers began their quest for a three-peat with a 70-41 win over No. 14 Advance in the first round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 26, at the Show Me Center.

Both junior forward TySeanDre’ Edwards and senior Mar’K Mills scored 17 points for the Tigers.

“Both of those guys have the ability to put up points in a hurry and just in a number of ways,” Cape Central head coach Lamont Frazier said. “I feel like they're probably two of our best three-level scores that we have.”

The Hornets made it a competitive first half, led by sophomore Brodie Rodgers’ 14 points. Advance started the first quarter within striking distance trailing just 12-9 and kept up with the Tigers’ initial charge to finish the opening period down 26-18.

Sophomore Goliath Morris-Young led the Tigers through the first quarter with nine points, all within the interior. Five different Tigers found the basket in Cape Central’s 26-point opening outburst.

The Tigers found their groove in the second quarter. Led by an increase in defensive pressure and Edwards’ 10 first-half points, the Tigers clawed their way to a 42-23 halftime lead.

Frazier chalked it up to the Tigers “settling in” during a period that eventually would lead to a rout.

“I think we had probably two or three easy buckets in transition,” Frazier said. “You can go on 4-0, 6-0 runs, and that has a tendency to stretch things out. And so we had a couple of those in the second quarter, and I thought that's what really helped us because then it allowed us to turn defensive and turn things out.”

The Tigers continued to put pressure on the Hornets, swatting away any attempt at a comeback and stretching their lead to 60-31 at the end of the third quarter.

With the second unit on the court for Cape Central, the Tigers cruised through the final period to secure the win and advance to the quarterfinal round. A 3-pointer by senior Jefferson Walling highlighted a 10-10 fourth quarter.

Rodgers led Advance with 14 points and was the only Hornet to score in double figures.

Advance will take on the loser between Bell City and Meadow Heights in the consolation quarterfinals at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 27, while Cape Central will take on the winner between the Cubs and Panthers in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Friday.