Bell City rings up fifth-place win as Cape Central clangs

The odds appeared to be against Bell City in Saturday night's fifth-place game of the 57th annual University High School Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center.

Without leading scorer Eric Henry, who was in street clothes with a deep thigh bruise, the Class 1A Cubs appeared to definitely have their work cut out against the 4A Tigers, who had been one of the more impressive tourney teams through the first three rounds.

But the fifth-seeded Cubs were evidently unimpressed by seventh-seeded Central as they led virtually wire to wire and rolled to a surprisingly easy 74-57 victory.

"I never would have expected the score to be that bad," said Bell City coach David Heeb, whose squad improved to 9-3. "Cape Central is a really good team. They struggled shooting the ball and we shot well."

Indeed, the Tigers (3-8) unoficially hit just three of 30 3-point attempts. But that shouldn't detract from the Cubs' performance.

Impressive sophomore point guard Dominitrix Johnson scored 24 points as he wrapped up a strong tournament. C.J. Hadley also completed a solid tourney with 22 points. Only two other players scored for the Cubs and both were in double figures as Jason Rampley had 16 points -- including four 3-pointers -- and Kenyon Wright added 12.

"I think the tournament was a coming out party for Dominitrix. He played great," Heeb said. "C.J. had a good tournament. He plays so hard.

"And I have to give a lot of credit to Jason Rampley and Luke Phillips. Luke had 13 rebounds and Jason had eight. They really stepped up."

Central got 12 points from Ryan Delph and 11 from Jay Ruark.

"We just couldn't shoot the ball," said Central coach Derek McCord. "But Bell City deserved to win."

Bell City led 18-13 after one quarter. Central managed an 18-18 tie early in the second period, but the Cubs scored six straight points and never relinquished the lead.

The Cubs closed the opening half with a 10-2 run, getting two free throws after a technical foul on McCord and a late 3-pointer by Rampley to lead 34-25 at the break.

Bell City moved ahead 53-41 after three quarters and coasted down the stretch.