JACKSON RINGS UP WIN OVER BELL CITY

Bell City had no magic left as they were soundly defeated 78-47 by the Jackson Indians in the quarterfinal round of the University High Tournament on Thursday.

Bell City, the 10th seed, was coming off a mild upset win over No. 7 Scott County Central on Wednesday. But getting by No. 2 Jackson was not to be.

The Indians dominated the backboards and played a tough, smothering man-to-man defense against the Cubs.

"We watched them last night and they did an excellent job on the boards against Scott Central and we knew we had to make contact or we would give them a lot of second opportunities," said Jackson coach Mike Kiehne. "We took care of that tonight."

That they did, holding the Cubs to 29 shot attempts, while the Indians had 49. Many of those were layins, putbacks and high-percentage jumpers.

As a result, the Indians shot a sizzling 62 percent from the field for the night.

Jackson (5-3) vaulted to a 14-5 first-quarter lead and never looked back.

Six-foot-two junior center Seth McDowell, the game's high scorer with 25 points, netted seven in the first period to set the tempo for Jackson's potent inside game.

With the defense forcing turnovers in the front and backcourt and, seemingly, getting every loose ball, the Indians extended their lead to 39-20 at the intermission and 68-34 at the end of the third period.

"We were able to force some turnovers and get out and run a little bit," said Kiehne, "which we need to do with our lack of size."

Jackson has no starter taller than 6-2.

Bell City's first-year coach David Heeb was disappointed for his players after the effort they had put forth the night before.

"These kids work hard and they're better than they played tonight," said Heeb. "I hated to see them come out and play well one night and then have a letdown, but they're good kids and we'll bounce back."

Bell City (5-3) was led by 15 points from sophomore Eric Henry. Gabe Scherer and Brian Phillips contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Brad Hilbert with 14 and Matt Ferrell with 13 were other Jackson double-figure scorers, as 10 Indians got into the scoring act.