CENTRAL, JACKSON ARRANGE SHOWDOWN

FARMINGTON -- Cape Central and Jackson kept the seeding true to the end in the Class 4A District 1 tournament Wednesday as both boys teams advanced to a showdown of top seeds tonight.

Top-seeded Cape Central improved to 20-6 with a 69-49 victory over Farmington. Second-seeded Jackson (17-8) moved into the 7:30 p.m. final with a 54-49 victory over third-seeded Sikeston.

The boys final will be preceded by the girls 6 p.m. championship game between Jackson and Poplar Bluff.

Nathan Owen led the Tigers into the finals with a 21-point performance. Owen was the only Central player in double figures as LaVelle Lewis was next in line with nine points.

"A win at this time of the season is all you want," said Cape Central coach Brett Reutzel. "This time of the year that's all that's important."

Reutzel saw his Tigers jump on No. 4 seed Farmington. Cape Central grabbed a 10-0 lead and built a 22-6 lead by the close of the quarter.

The Tiger momentum hit a wall in the second period as Farmington outscored Central 14-6 in the period, cutting the deficit to 28-20 at halftime.

"They came out and played hard," Reutzel said of his team. "They didn't stop playing, they just stopped making good decisions. But you have to give Farmington credit, they came out and played a lot harder defense in the second quarter."

Central was also slowed by foul problems in the second period as Owen, Lewis and Lawrence Jackson all sat with two fouls.

"They got back in there in the third quarter and we kind of went on another run," said Reutzel.

Central held a 23-15 scoring advantage in the third quarter and took a 51-35 lead into the final period.

Jackson encountered a tougher road against Sikeston. The Indians trailed much of the game, including inside the final two minutes.

After playing to an 11-11 first-quarter stalemate, Sikeston moved ahead 26-21 by halftime. The Bulldogs opened a nine-point lead in the third quarter and took a 37-29 lead into the fourth period.

Sikeston still led late in the period. After John Sanders put Sikeston ahead 46-45 with about two minutes left, Jackson moved ahead for good, 48-45, on a 3-point basket from sophomore Justin Suedemeyer with 1:35 remaining.

Justin Keen hit all four of his free throw attempts inside the final 30 seconds as the Indians held off Sikeston. Keen finished with a team-high 14 points while Jeff Walter netted 13 points.

Sanders scored a game-high 28 points for Sikeston.

"The Sanders kid really shot the ball well," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "I didn't feel we did a bad job on him. He just hit his shots."

Jackson and Cape Central have split their two games this season. Central won the first game 47-42, but fell 58-48 in the most recent game.

Reutzel said the Tigers are equipped with a little more ammunition because of the loss.

"I would have rather have split with them than to have gone 2-0," said Reutzel. "I'm a little more comfortable that way."

Said Burk, "I'm happy still to be able to play, but we have to play better than we did tonight to have any chance at all or it will be a blowout."