Bluejays christen tourney with rout

~ Top-seededed Charleston cruised to a 97-41 victory over No. 16 Delta.

The 63rd annual Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament got off to a familiar start for the Charleston Bluejays.

Playing the first game of the tournament as the No. 1 seed for the fifth-straight year, the Bluejays rolled past the 16th-seeded Delta Bobcats 97-41

Senior Brian Parham scored 14 first-half points, leading his team to at 54-21 halftime advantage that would only grow as Charleston went on to defeat Delta 97-41.

Parham led all scorers with 22 points, while Donald Dixon added 15 and Terrell Smith had 13.

Delta senior Tyler Martin was impressive in defeat scoring 18 points, including four 3-pointers.

CHARLESTON 97, DELTA 41

Delta 13 8 9 11 -- 41

Charleston 27 27 20 23 -- 97

Delta (41) -- Teddy May 2, Cody Helderman 2, Tyler Martin 18, Chase Rhodes 12, Cody Schremp 4, Jason Stevens 1, Gage Bowers 2. FG 16, FT 5-7, F 8 (3-pointers: Martin 4. Fouled out: none)

Charleston (97) -- Antonio Riggens 7, Terrell Smith 13, Jeremy Spencer 8, Marquez Ware 12, Jerquawn Sherrell 3, Allen Hemphill 6, Deonte Jones 7, Fred Pratt 4, Donald Dixon 15, Brian Parham 22. FG 42, FT 8-13, F 11 (3-pointers: Smith 1, Spencer 2, Sherrell 1, Jones 1. Fouled out: none.)

Bell City 75, Oak Ridge 39

Bell City began defense of its title with an impressive opening quarter against 15th-seeded Oak Ridge.

The second-seeded Cubs jumped out to a 24-8 lead behind 13 first-quarter points from Nick Niemczyk.

Niemczyk led all scorers with 33 points while his teammates Philliip Gross and Marty Dames scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Oak Ridge got 13 points from Brett Thomas and 12 from Garret Light.

Oak Ridge 8 12 13 6 -- 39

Bell City 24 15 19 17 -- 75

OAK RIDGE (39) -- Kaz Lange 2, Dustin Meyr 8, Garret Light 12, Brett Thomas 13, Logan Mangels 4. FG 13, FT 11-12, F 12 (3-pointers: Meyr 2. Fouled out: none)

BELL CITY (75) -- Ethan Watkins 2, Nick Niemczyk 33, Phillip Gross 11, Jeff Long 2, Ronnie Gross 3, Marty Dames 10, Austin Bush 3, Skylor Blackler 8, Brandon Bell 3. FG 27, FT 15-20, F 10 (3-pointers: Niemczyk 4, R. Gross 1, Bush 1. Fouled out: none.)

Jackson 91, Meadow Heights 42

The third-seeded Indians wasted little time opening up a big lead over Meadow Heights en route to a 91-42 victory.

Jackson, behind senior Jake Leets's 15 first-half points, led the overmatched Panthers 53-28 at the break and never looked back.

The Indians scored the first 19 points of the third quarter as well.

Leet finished with 17 points to lead all scorers. Caleb Guilliams scored 15 points on five 3-pointers for Jackson.

Meadow Heights was led in the scoring column by Dustin Hubler with nine points.

Meadow Heights 16 12 5 9 -- 42

Jackson 27 26 23 15 -- 91

Meadow Heights (42) -- Dustin Hubler 9, Derrick Wilfong 5, Tyler Wagner 6, Adam Welker 3, Tyler Brune 2, Ethan Mayfield 4, Zac Hotop 6, Derek Bess 4, Luke Nitsch 3. FG 15, FT 7-11, F 15 (3-pointers: Wilfong 1, Wagner 1, Welker 1, Hotop 2. Fouled out: none)

Jackson (91) -- Caleb Guilliams 15, Marcus Harris 8, Cody Green 9, Andrew Shrum 3, Spencer Goodman 12, Matt Lang 3, Jake Leet 17, Aaron Floyd 2, Hunter Grantham 14, Antonio Garritano 8. FG 34, FT 12-19, F 9 (3-pointers: Guilliams 5, Green 1, Goodman 2, Lang 1, Leet 2. Fouled out: none.)

Scott City 73, Kelly 48

Down only 11 points at halftime to the No. 6 seed, Kelly had the first legitimate chance to pull off an upset in this year's tournament.

After being outscored 25-9 in the first quarter, the Hawks had closed the gap with an 18-13 scoring advantage in the second quarter and trailed 38-27 at the break.

However, Scott City was able to respond to Kelly's challenge and pull away in the second half.

The Rams were led in scoring by seniors Ryan Modglin and Jay Simmons with 15 points. Alex King added 14 points.

Josh DeBrock kept Kelly in the game with 15 points, while Josh Rodgers scored nine.

Kelly 9 18 11 10 -- 48

Scott City 25 13 23 12 -- 73

Kelly (48) -- Ryan Essner 2, Chris Cooper 5, Josh DeBrock 15, Levi Felter 2, Blake Wade 3, Ross Lasater 2, Omar Campos 2, Zach Essner 2, Bryce Faulkner 2, Eric Turley 4, Josh Rodgers 9. FG 21, FT 3-3, F 16 (3-pointers: Cooper 1, DeBrock 1, Wade 1. Fouled out: none)

Scott City (73) -- Jay Simmons 15, Shae Simmons 13, Caleb Estes 8, Cody Page 2, Travis Scherer 4, Ryan Modglin 15, Jake Campbell 2, Alex King 14. FG 26, FT 16-19, F 10 (3-pointers: J. Simmons 1, S. Simmons 3, Scherer 1. Fouled out: none.)

Oran 78, Leopold 62

The Oran Eagles completed a first day sweep for the higher seeds by beating the Leopold Wildcats 78-62 in the match-up between eight and nine seeds.

Oran never trailed after the first quarter.

The Eagles, who were led in scoring by Cody Romas with 23 points and Kody Campbell with 22, will now face top-seeded Charleston on Thursday.

Leopold will take on Delta in the consolation bracket. Darren VanGennip had 21 points for the Wildcats, and Clayton Stoverink had 18.

LEOPOLD 15 6 15 9 -- 62

ORAN 18 13 17 15 -- 78

Leopold (62) --- Cody Van De Ven 4, Wade Wiseman 3, Trenton Vandeven 5, Darren VanGennip 21, Larry Nussbaum 9, Clayton Stoverink 18, Jordan Jansen 2. FG 25, FT 10-15, F 17 (3-pointers: T. Vandeven 1, VanGennip 1. Fouled out: none)

Oran (78) --- Cody W. Dirnberger 10, Kurt Rendleman 10, Cody Romas 23, Tyler Beardslee 8, Kody Campbell 22, Jake Kluesner 3. FG 30, FT 11-19, F 16 (3-pointers: Romas 3, Campbell 2. Fouled out: none)