CENTRAL ROUTS SIKESTON; JACKSON EDGES NMCC

SIKESTON -- Cape Girardeau Central High's boys basketball team bounced back from Tuesday's loss to Jackson by rolling past host Sikeston 66-41 Friday night.

The Tigers, who broke open a fairly close game in the second half, improved to 18-5 and likely wrapped up the top seed for the upcoming Class 4A, District 1 Tournament.

"I was pleased with our performance," said Central coach Brett Reutzel. "We played well defensively for the first time in a long time, I thought. We had a lot of intensity.

"It was good to bounce back after the Jackson game. We were probably playing for the top seed in the district tonight and we had a good game."

Nathan Owen scored 22 points to lead the Tigers while Lawrence Jackson added 11. Central also got a lift from Drew Witvoet, making his first start of the season. Witvoet scored five of the Tigers' first seven points and finished with nine.

"Drew got an opportunity and made the most of it," Reutzel said. "He did a good job."

Sikeston, which fell to 7-15, got 17 points from John Sanders and 15 from Henley Montgomery.

The Tigers led 29-23 at halftime. They went ahead 45-36 after three quarters and broke the game wide open in the final period.

Central's JV improved to 13-5 with a 59-45 victory. Chip Elias scored 14 points.

The Tigers will go for a share of the SEMO Conference title Tuesday night when Charleston comes to town. The Blue Jays are undefeated in league play while Central has one loss.

Jackson 47

New Madrid 45

NEW MADRID -- Jeff Walter scored inside with 19 seconds left and Travis Wilson made a key defensive play 16 second later as Jackson came from behind to beat New Madrid County Central on the road Friday night.

Jackson trailed 33-31 entering the fourth quarter. With the score tied 45-45 late in the final period, Walter's basket put Jackson up 47-45.

After Jackson knocked a ball out of bounds, New Madrid missed a shot on the ensuing possession, got an offensive rebound, and Wilson stripped the ball away and was fouled.

Jackson improved to 15-8. The Indians, who beat Cape Central last Tuesday, have won three straight.

"New Madrid's a tough place to play," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "We shot the ball a little better in the second half and we made a pretty good comeback."

Walter had 13 points for Jackson, Brandon Streiler added 11 and Justin Suedmeyer totaled 10.

For New Madrid, Demarkus Thatch led all scorers with 20 points and Ed Farr added 16.

Windsor 73

Perryville 62

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville ran into a hot-shooting Windsor squad Friday night and had its 18-game winning streak snapped at home.

Windsor's Steve Moss hit five 3-pointers and scored 27 points. The Owls made 13 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter.

"Windsor shot the ball extremely well," said Perryville coach Rick Francis. "It was just their night and they outplayed us."

Windsor led 34-24 at halftime.

Perryville, ranked third in the state in Class 3A, fell to 22-2.

For Perryville, Scott Kassel had 17 points, Paul Weinkein 14, Bruce Weinkein 11 and Matt Meyr 10.

Scott City 75

Bloomfield 59

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City, which started the season 17-1, lost three of its next four games to Class 2A teams Hayti, Malden and Kelly.

The Rams, who have been hurt by injuries lately, bounced back and beat Class 2A foe Bloomfield at home Friday night.

Scott City (19-4) was never threatened and led 51-35 entering the fourth quarter.

The Rams' Dustin Cauble led all scorers with 23 points, Tim Lowery had 13 points and Chris Sisk 10. For Bloomfield, Nathan Conner had 18 points and Andy Perry added 17.

Scott City's JV improved to 14-6 with a 95-23 blow out.

Portageville 58

Kelly 57

KELLY -- Portageville's Brett Smith bombed home half-court shot at the buzzer Friday night to send host Kelly to a crushing defeat.

Ben Klipfel had hit two free throws with two seconds left to give the Hawks a 57-55 lead.

"It was just a heartbreaking loss," said Kelly coach Kent Mangels. "But we really played well this week (the Hawks beat Scott City Tuesday night) and I told the kids this is just one of those things that happens. We shouldn't let it get us down."

Clark Cossou scored 13 points to lead the Hawks (11-10) while Smith scored 15 for Portageville.

Advance 81

Delta 76

DELTA -- Sammy Below and Brock Cato hooked up in a shootout here Friday night.

Delta's Below came away with the most points -- 33 -- but Advance's Cato -- who had 30 points -- came away with the victory.

Advance (13-8) also got 18 points from Matt Welch and 12 from Matt DeJournett.

Delta (12-10) got 21 points from Garrett DeBrock and 10 from Kenny Goebler.

"It was a good ballgame," said Delta coach Nate Crowden, whose squad fell behind 23-14 after one quarter. "We got off to a slow start, but it was close pretty much the whole way."

Woodland 79

Bell City 56

BELL CITY -- Woodland continue to play well as the Cardinals rolled past host Bell City Friday night.

Shawn Massa pumped in 23 points, Greg Lincoln scored 16 and David Massa added 14 for the Cardinals (14-7).

Bell City (6-12) got 21 points from Jacob Jenkins and 10 from Jay Gadberry.

"Woodland has really been playing well and we're not playing very well right now," said Bell City coach Scott Kruse.

The Cardinals led 20-6 after one quarter and 45-17 at halftime.

Woodland will be right back in action tonight as the Cardinals visit Zalma.

Oran 68

Leopold 44

ORAN -- Oran also continued its recent strong play as the Eagles handily defeated visiting Leopold Friday night.

Sophomore Chris Nichols hit seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points to spark the Eagles (6-12). Fellow sophomore Billy Loper added 15 points.

Leopold (7-10) got 14 points from Matt Beussink and 10 from Calvin Horrell.

Oran led 33-24 at halftime and broke the game open with an 18-9 third-quarter edge.

Zalma 63

Meadow Heights 39

MEADOW HEIGHTS -- Zalma jumped out to a 13-5 lead and cruised to a win on the road over Meadow Heights Friday night.

Zalma improved to 2-15, with both its victories coming over Meadow Heights.

For Zalma, Gandy Wade had 17 points, Terry Hendrix 15 and Michael Wade 12.

Meadow Heights was led by Kevin Weaver and Brandon Boyd with eight points apiece.

Zalma hosts Woodland tonight.

Charleston 71

Poplar Bluff 56

CHARLESTON -- Charleston claimed a home-court victory Friday night and moved closer to the SEMO Conference title.

The Blue Jays (21-3) can win the league championship with a perfect record by beating host Cape Central Tuesday night.

Rashad Oliver scored 26 points, Larico Coleman had 17 and Corey Kent added 12 to lead the Blue Jays.

SCC game postponed

MORLEY -- Friday night's highly anticipated game between perennial Class 1A state power Scott County Central and defending 1A state champion Richland never came off.

The contest was postponed, reportedly because Richland coach Doyle Pitts was ill. The game will likely not be made up.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Delta 44

Chaffee 25

CHAFFEE -- Delta led 12-2 after the first quarter and cruised to a win on the road Friday night.

The game was a make-up contest that was originally scheduled for late December.

Delta (13-3) got nine points from Jody Below. Renee Vandeven also had nine points for Chaffee (8-10).

Kelly 56

Portageville 49 (OT)

KELLY -- Kelly outscored visiting Portageville 11-4 in overtime Friday night as the Lady Hawks prevailed.

The Lady Hawks (14-6) were led by Jennifer McNeill with 20 points. Suzanne Urhahan and Audrey Burford both added 12.

"It was a pretty good ballgame," said Kelly coach Clay Vangilder. "We're glad to get the win."

BOYS SWIMMING

Tigers advance at state

COLUMBIA -- Two Cape Central swimmers advanced to today's finals at the Missouri state championships in Columbia.

Matt Younghouse, a sophomore, will enter the finals seeded fifth in the 500-meter freestyle and seventh in the 200-meter freestyle.

Jason Owen, also a sophomore, is Central's other finals qualifier. He is seeded sixth in the 100-meter backstroke and 10th in the 200-meter IM.

Also at the state meet during Friday's preliminaries, Central's Eric Yount set a school record in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 22.81 seconds.

If not disqualified, Younghouse and Owen will be named to the all-state team.