Central boys basketball season comes to an end in sectional round

~ the Tigers missed four chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute during a 50-47 loss to Farmington

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Cape Central's playoff mojo didn't translate to the basketball court.

The Tigers couldn't complete a second-half rally as Farmington held on for a 50-47 win Wednesday night in a Class 4 sectional game at Three Rivers College.

"Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way, tonight definitely," Central coach Drew Church said after his team missed four chances in the final minute to tie or take the lead.

"The ball bounced their way tonight and it was their game. I wish them the best of luck."

The Cape Central bench shows some anxiety late in the fourth quarter of its Class 4 playoff game Wednesday night against Farmington at Bess Activity Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. (Rob Tate ~ Daily American Republic)

Coming after a semifinal appearance in football, Central finished the basketball season 17-11 and with a district championship win over Sikeston.

"A month ago we were 9-10 and it would've been easy for this group to quick, but they didn't," Church said. "They fought hard and won eight straight and got a district championship and did some things that noboby really thought we were going to do."

Half of the Tigers' games were decided by single digits with them going 6-8.

Farmington (20-9) advanced to the state quarterfinal for the first time in program history, winning a playoff game for the first time in its 10th attempt.

"We could have had a double digit [lead] if -- if -- we made a free throw," Farmington coach Justin Callahan said.

The Knights were 9 for 22 at the line and missed 10 free throws in the final 2 minutes, 42 seconds.

That opened the door for Central to cut a nine-point margin at the start of the fourth down to a point.

"It's just like we couldn't get our guys going until the fourth quarter," Church said. "At this point in the season you can't wait until the fourth quarter to start playing."

Jamal Cox scored 16 points to lead the Tigers while Jalen Reddin added 13 and Andre Statam scored 11.

Donald Hardy scored half of his 18 points from behind the 3-point line in the first half to lead the Knights. Eli Pratte and Jordan Ankrom each chipped in 10 points.

Farmington sank 7 of 14 shots from 3-point range after hitting just 6 of 25 in the first meeting against Central, a 54-42 Tigers win on Dec. 20.

Down nine to start the fourth quarter, Reddin hit a 3 and Statam scored following a free throw by Pratte.

Down five with 4:20 left, the Tigers missed the front end of a one-and-one and Ankrom scored with a head fake in the post. Cox answered quickly and the Knights missed a one-and-one chance before Cox scored on a putback that cut Farmington's lead to 43-40.

After the teams traded baskets, Cox picked off a long pass and scored on a reverse layin to cut the deficit to one with 2:47 left, but the Tigers never tied or took a lead.

"It got to a point where we were playing catch up at the end," Church said. "They're good free-throw shooters. They're good at spreading the floor and taking care of the ball."

The Tigers threw the ball away trailing by three points and were forced to foul with less than a minute to go. Ankrom missed two before Cox was fouled on the rebound and split at the line. Following two more misses at the line by Ankrom with 45 seconds left, the Tigers came up empty and fouled Pratte on the rebound. The senior hit a free throw for a 50-47 lead with 25 seconds left.

Statam missed a 3 and the Knights got the ball when the rebound went out of bounds with 11.2 seconds left. After a timeout, Mikey Jones got a steal while pressing but Cox had a layin rim out.

Again, the Knights missed at the line as Ankrom came up empty with 4.5 seconds left. Statam's running off-balance 3 from the wing missed at the buzzer.

"We didn't play the best game," Church said. "I thought a lot of times Farmington played hard, played smarter."

Farmington built a 38-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter by keeping the Tigers off the scoreboard for nearly the first three minutes of the second half.

"They hit the offensive rebounds hard on some long 3s," Church said of Farmington's 13 second-chance points.

The Tigers led 17-8 at one point in the first quarter and 17-12 entering the second quarter. Al Young's drive put the Tigers up 21-14 with 5:02 left in the half, but it was the final field goal of the quarter for Central, who trailed 24-22 at halftime.

Church singled out seniors Cox, Jones and Dusty Tolbert after the loss.

"I'd like to thank my three seniors," he said. "You know, they're three guys that have been in the program for four years and they've given me everything that they've had and they've bought in to what we want to do. And they're kids that represent us well -- not just our program but the school and the community. This isn't the way we wanted to go out, but they've left this program in a better state than when they found it. I'm very grateful for those three guys."

Central 17 5 7 14 -- 47

Farmington 12 12 14 12 -- 50

CENTRAL (47) -- Al Young 6, Jalen Reddin 13, Jamal Cox 16, Mikey Jones 4, Andre Statam 11. FG 19, FT 6-14, F 17. (3-pointers: Reddin 3. Fouled out: none)

FARMINGTON (50) -- Logan England 7, Eli Pratte 10, Brett Mann 2, Garrett Callahan 6, Jordan Ankrom 10, Donald Hardy 18. FG 17, FT 9-22, F 13. (3-pointers: England 1, Callahan 2, Hardy 4. Fouled out: none)