JACKSON, BLUFF STILL HEALTHY

It took Cape Central about 26 minutes to finally tie the game, but only eight seconds to lose it.

Poplar Bluff senior Emily Wyatt banked in a 12-footer with 3 seconds left as the No. 2 Lady Mules escaped with a 46-44 win over No. 3 Cape Central in a semifinal game of the HealthSouth Holiday Classic at the Show-Me Center.

"That was a very good play on their part," Central coach Darrick Smith said of the game winner. "We didn't call a timeout because we didn't want to let them set up a play. We might have been a little late getting to our man, but she hit a tough shot. We got a hand in her face, You've got to give her credit."

Central's junior guard Dionna Webb drove left down the lane and, with a hand in her face, swished a difficult layup to deadlock the game at 44 with 11 seconds remaining. It marked the first time since early in the first quarter that the Lady Tigers had not trailed.

On the ensuing possession, Poplar Bluff senior point guard Amy Hendricks, who was dribbling the ball over the half-court line, had the ball knocked clear out of bounds under the Lady Mules' basket.

On the inbound play, Wyatt, who scored a game-high 17 points, freed herself and hit the game-winning jumper.

The Lady Tigers took the ball out of bounds with 1 second left, but a desperate heave was intercepted and time expired.

"In the second half we played like I think we're capable of playing," Smith said. "I'm proud of them for not quitting. I think they sent a message that we will be around and we will be competitive. (No. 1 seed Jackson and Poplar Bluff) are good ballclubs but I think we can play with them. We're going to keep getting better."

The Lady Tigers (6-2) recovered from a tough first half to get into position to send the game into overtime.

Cape trailed 16-9 after the first quarter and by as many as 10 before narrowing the deficit to 26-19 by halftime.

But in the second half, the Lady Tigers cut their turnovers from 13 to three and were able to take advantage of their height by establishing a more controlled half-court offense.

"We took care of the ball better and played with more confidence both offensively and defensively," Smith said. "They really pressured us and kept us out of our offense in the first half. At halftime we said `Okay, now we have to start creating and penetrating more on our own and then dishing the ball.' Then our big people would end up on a smaller guard on the rotation."

"We came out and played a little zone on them in the third quarter and it wasn't very effective on them and they took advantage of that," Poplar Bluff coach Kirk Chronister said. "It was a big win. Cape's a good ballclub."

Both teams shot well in the first quarter. It's just that Poplar Bluff (7-2) took more shots, hitting 7-of-9 from the field. Eight first-quarter turnovers translated into just six shots taken, four of them made, in the first quarter for Central.

The Lady Tigers didn't score a basket in the second quarter until sophomore Katie Dougherty, who scored 15 points to lead Central, put in a layup with 1:45 left in the half. Six of Central's 10 points in the second quarter came at the foul line.

"We didn't play well in the first half but we were able to make some buckets when we needed them to stay under the 10-point range," Smith said.

Poplar Bluff's win sets up a showdown with No. 1 Jackson for the championship tonight at 8:30 tonight.

No. 6 Scott County Central 63, No. 7 Scott City 43

Senior Ashley Whitson scored 25 points to lead the Bravettes to an easy win over the Lady Rams in a consolation semifinal.

Scott County, after leading just 14-11 after the first quarter, sprinted to a 36-17 lead at halftime.

The Lady Rams, who were led by senior Lani Bedwell's 11 points, cut the lead to 38-29 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter, but were unable to get any closer.

Seniors Heather Bright and Katie Griffin both scored 10 apiece for the Bravettes. Scott City junior Erin Raines also had 10.

No. 4 Perryville 61, No. 8 Kelly 38

Perryville's Tiffany Perkins upped her HealthSouth Classic scoring average to 25 points by scoring 26 points in the other consolation semifinal.

Perkins scored 18 points in the first half.

Perryville (3-4) outscored Kelly 21-3 in the second quarter before taking a 38-15 lead into halftime.

Sophomore Marissa Essner scored 15 points to pace Kelly (6-3).