Top-seeded Jackson boys basketball team pulls away from shorthanded Woodland in Christmas Tourney quarterfinal

In a tournament that has largely played out according to seeding, the opener of Tuesday's evening session was no different.

Top-seeded Jackson looked like a team poised to go deep in the bracket, and No. 8 Woodland looked like a side down a key starter, as the Indians broke things open with a 17-3 run in the second quarter and left the Cardinals behind, 69-45, in a championship quarterfinal of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center.

Jackson senior Jacob Smith put up the best individual performance of the tournament so far with 29 points to spark the Indians (5-5).

"For him, if he does a good job, we don't care how many points he scores. We just want him to make good decisions and when he's got good shots, take them," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "For him, if they try to take away Cam [Hester], he's going to get some good looks in some space, and tonight I thought he did a good job of taking what they gave him and he didn't force anything."

Woodland (7-2) went to-to-toe with Jackson in the first quarter, and a Bruester Young 3-pointer 23 seconds into the second quarter gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 16-15, but moments later the slide began.

Smith hit a 3 at the 5:05 mark to give the Indians a 22-19 advantage, and the top seed just kept rolling. Hester tacked on a conventional three-point play before Smith scored on the fast break and Jacob Friess scored back-to-back buckets, giving Jackson a 13-point lead.

By the time Friess sank an NBA-range 3 as the halftime buzzer sounded, it was 37-25 in favor of the Indians.

"We didn't execute doing the little things very well," Woodland coach Logan Nutt said. "We weren't going full speed in transition, offensively or defensively. We took a couple of plays off, and they took advantage and made us pay for it.

"You've got to give Jackson credit. They played tougher than us. They knocked us off of our game a little bit. They made execution tough for us offensively, and I feel we didn't execute well enough to be competitive."

Jackson opened the second half on a 9-0 run, six of those points coming from Smith, who hit from long range, dunked on the break and then drove baseline to cap things off.

The Indians outscored the Cardinals 20-8 in the third quarter, effectively eliminating any hope of a Woodland comeback.

"The second quarter ... it seemed like we guarded a little bit better and rebounded a little bit better," Scott said. "But I felt like we really got up and down a little bit and got some good looks."

Woodland was without 6-foot-7 standout center Zach Beel, who suffered an ankle injury in a first-round victory over Oran. Beel sat on the bench in warmups and with a boot on his foot, which he iced prior to the game. His status is day-to-day, though Nutt said he did show improvement in the day since he got hurt.

"With Zach out, he's obviously a big part of our team, but as a team, we know that kind of stuff is always possible so we always try to be prepared," Nutt said. "I thought the guys played well from the beginning of the game, we just got knocked off of our execution and it really put us in a downward spiral."

Cole Schlief, who led all tournament scorers on Day 1, paced the Cardinals with 13 points. Jake Long added eight and Michael McCormick pitched in seven.

Pete Lake had nine for Jackson, which also saw Friess and Stephen Irons score eight apiece.

Smith scored the first two baskets of the game to put the Indians on top 5-0, but Schlief went coast to coast and then dropped in a 3 to tie things up.

A small 5-0 swing gave the lead back to Jackson, which it then maintained through the end of the period, with Cardinal Connor Goodwin scoring with 21 seconds left to keep things within two, 15-13, at the quarter break.

Jackson led by as many as 30 in the fourth quarter before Woodland finished the game on a 5-1 run, with all five points coming via Tyler Womack.

Woodland will play in a fifth-place semifinal Tuesday at 3 p.m. against the loser between Charleston and Advance.

The Indians advance to play in a championship semifinal Tuesday at 6 p.m. against the winner between Charleston and Advance.

Woodland 13 12 8 12 -- 45

Jackson 15 22 20 12 -- 69

WOODLAND (45) -- Logan Thomsen 2, Jake Long 8, Cole Schlief 13, Connor Goodwin 4, Tyler Womack 6, Bruester Young 5, Michael McCormick 7. FG 11, FT 14-27, F 16 (3-pointers: Schlief 2, Young. Fouled out: Long.)

JACKSON (69) -- Desmond Morris 4, Jacob Friess 8, Garrett Walker 4, Jacob Smith 29, Pete Lake 9, Stephen Irons 8, Cameron Hester 5, Drew King 2. FG 19, FT 10-20, F 21 (3-pointers: Smith 4, Friess 2, Morris. Fouled out: None.)