LADY TIGERS' PRESS SHAKES NEW MADRID

Before the season, Cape Girardeau Central High girls basketball coach Paula Watkins urged her Lady Tigers to "expect the unexpected." Considering Central had lost four starters to graduation, many observers speculated the Lady Tigers would lose a fair share of games.

The adage no longer applies: The sole expectation now is to win.

Central improved to 15-6 and 2-1 in the SEMO Conference with its slumberous 60-42 victory over New Madrid County Central at Tiger Fieldhouse Monday night.

"A lot of people didn't expect anything," Watkins said. "Our motto has been, `Expect the unexpected.' That's what we put on our T-shirts.

"It has been a good season. They've worked very hard and played well as a team."

New Madrid's talented inside duo of Shayla Day and Tameika Tipler hurt the Lady Tigers much more this time than in Central's 22-point win last Monday in the first round of the Charleston Invitation.

A week ago, Cape Central held them to 11 points combined. On Monday, Day, a 6-foot-2 junior, had a game-high 17 points and Tipler, an athletic senior who has received interest from area junior colleges, added 12.

But Cape Central forced 25 turnovers, including 11 in the first quarter.

"That was basically our game plan: try to get them to turn the ball over before they get a chance to get it to their big girls," Watkins said. "But their big girls did hurt us tonight. The second half we went to a much more aggressive press and I think that turned out to be the difference."

New Madrid coach Russ Toombs wasn't particularly distraught over his team's gaggle of blown opportunities.

"Actually all year we've had quite a few turnovers," he said. "I think a lot of that stems basically from having a freshman and a sophomore run your (offense). You're talking about 15-, 16-year-old girls."

Hitting a number of open jumpers, Central shot 53 percent and got balanced production with Amy Harris, Courtney Haman and Katie Dougherty each scoring 13 points. Kim Aslinger added eight.

"You give them an open shot from 15 feet in, they're not going to miss many of them," said Toombs, whose team fell to 12-9 and 2-3 in the league. "They're going to shoot a high percentage from that point without a hand in their face. And we didn't get a hand in their face a lot. I don't know whether we gave as much as we could there late in the second half."

Said Watkins: "They played us a zone, so we were going to have to hit some outside shots, not only that but with the big girls that they had inside on defense. I thought we were fairly patient on offense and got some good looks."

Central held an 18-7 first-quarter advantage and led 28-21 at halftime. New Madrid made it a five-point game, 30-25, with 6:32 left in the second quarter before a 12-2 Central run extended the lead to 42-27.