ST. LOUIS -- Despite a 35-point effort by Cape Central's Eric Wessel, St. Louis University High School downed the Tigers 61-59 in a thrilling double-overtime boys' basketball game Friday night.

Wessel hit a total of nine 3-pointers, six in the fourth quarter alone, which was one short of the Cape Central single-quarter record for 3-pointers that is held by Talley Haines. He was the only Tiger to finish in double figures.

Cape Central climbed out of a 42-27 hole in the fourth quarter, overcoming the 15-point deficit with a 24-9 scoring advantage over the final eight minutes. The teams went into overtime tied 51-51. Wessel sank a 3-pointer with less than a minute to go to force the overtime.

Both teams netted five points in the first overtime period which ended in a 56-56 tie.

Wessel hit another three with a minute left in the first overtime to put the Tigers up by two points, but the Junior Bills tied it up with a pair of free throws, sending the match into the second overtime session.

SLUH ultimately outscored Cape Central 5-3 in the second extra period.

Ross Conner had a chance to tie the game in the second session, but was fouled without a call being made and the shot fell short, sealing the loss for Cape Central.

The Junior Bills started out with a 13-8 first-quarter scoring edge, but Cape Central rallied a bit in the second quarter to outscore St. Louis High 16-15, but the Junior Bills still took a 28-24 lead into the break.

"I thought we came out pretty flat," said Cape Central coach Brett Reutzel. "I think Eric's 3-point shooting in the fourth quarter gave us life; he was just outstanding. We have to feel good, despite the loss, about going into districts after a game like this. I just wish we had started out playing as well as we finished this one tonight."

The Tigers were outscored 14-3 in the third period but recovered with the strong fourth quarter.

Oran 64, Chaffee 19

ORAN -- Travis Friga scored 34 points as the Eagles pounded an overmatched Chaffee squad.

Friga, a 6-foot-3 senior, alsohad 35 points in a 73-64 victory over Naylor on Thursday,

"They're not very big and we were able to get it down low to Travis Friga," said Oran coach Larry Boshell.

Nathan Seyer also reached double figures with 12 points.

Chase Eskew, who finished with 10 points, was the only Red Devil to score more than four points.

Oran (14-8) took a 14-9 lead into the second quarter and proceeded to outscored Chaffee 19-2 in the period for a 33-11 halftime advantage.

St. Vincent 81, Meadow Heights 48

PERRYVILLE -- The Indians completed a 4-0 week by rolling over Meadow Heights.

St.Vincent (16-6) has won 10 of its last 12 games.

"We came out pretty good in the first half," said St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy. "We shot the ball really well and we had a lot of energy, considering this was our fourth game this week."

Gabe Hotop was the leader in scoring for St. Vincent, sinking 18 points, while Todd Meyer had 17 and Ryan Prost had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Indians opened up strong with a 26-13 scoring advantage in the first quarter and continued to take it to the Panthers in the second, taking a 48-29 lead into halftime. A 20-8 scoring edge in the third quarter sealed the win for the Indians.

Oak Ridge 86, Zalma 50

OAK RIDGE -- Oak Ridge boasted five players in double-digit scoring as it disposed of Zalma.

Beau Morrison led the offensive with 19 points and was followed by Ben Fadler 15, Matt Schoen 13, and Adam Hahs and Duran Engler with 11 apiece.

Oak Ridge (7-13) built a 28-14 lead in the first quarter and took a comfortable 46-25 lead into halftime.

"We really came out fired up and really jumped on them in the first quarter," said Oak Ridge coach Paul Lynch.

Dustin Wiseman paced Zalma with 15 points and Jason Means added 12.

Leopold 47, Delta 30

DELTA -- Leopold employed a stingy match-up zone defense to hold Delta to just 10 second-half points and improve its record to 16-8 with the win.

"We scored eight points in the first minute and a half," said Delta coach Jim Gloth. "We didn't score again till near the end of the first half. We didn't do a good job of attacking that zone."

Both teams were tied at the close of the first quarter at 8-8, but Leopold outscored Delta 18-12 in the second quarter to take a 26-20 lead into the break. The Wildcats outscored the Bobcats 21-10 through the second half to take the win.

A combined total of just eight free throws were attempted in the game.

Jason Van De Ven notched 12 points to lead Leopold in scoring, while Lee VanderMierden pitched in with 11.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Cape Central 54, Nerinx Hall 47

WEBSTER GROVES -- The tenth-ranked 4A Lady Tigers mounted a fourth-quarter rally to defeated Nerinx Hall and improve to 20-4.

"I thought we played with more intensity then we've had in three or four weeks," said Cape Central coach Darrick Smith. "It's a great win for us."

Seven Cape Central players found the scoring column, with Katie Dougherty leading all scorers by netting 18 points. Dionna Webb finished with 12.

Cape Central took a 19-15 first-quarter lead, but was outscored 14-8 in the second, as Nerinx Hall (17-7) nudged ahead 28-27 by halftime. Nerinx upped the lead to 37-33 by the start of the fourth quarter.

The Lady Tigers exploded offensively down the stretch, outscoring Nerinx Hall 21-10 to pull out the victory.