BLYTHEVILLE STORMS BY CENTRAL

SIKESTON -- To the chagrin of the Cape Central Tigers, the Chicks of Blytheville were in no mood for laying an egg Thursday night.

The No. 2 seed Blytheville Chickasaws -- also known as the Chicks -- shot 48 percent from the field and forced Cape Girardeau Central into committing 20 turnovers in bowling over the No. 6 Tigers 57-43 in the semifinal game of the Sikeston Tournament.

Blytheville (4-3) may have not put the game away in the first quarter -- it led just 18-13 after the first period -- but that's when Central's problems began.

Ross Conner -- Central's 6-foot-4 junior forward -- picked up his second foul with 3 minutes, 44 seconds left in the first quarter. The Tigers' main inside threat battled foul trouble all game, picking up his third 13 seconds before halftime and his fourth 56 seconds into the third quarter.

Central (1-4) not only lost one of its main offensive threats, but the loss of Conner also weakened the Tigers' interior defense and allowed Blytheville's 6-2 senior forward Kenric Partee to have a fiesta in the paint, scoring a game-high 24.

"That hurt," Tigers head coach Brett Reutzel said. "When Ross got in foul trouble they seemed to pick up the pressure a little bit more. They can gamble a little bit more on the outside because our inside threat is not as great."

Blytheville head coach David Hixson agreed that Conner's accumulation of fouls took Central out of their offensive rhythm.

"Conner is a nice player and I think a lot of what they do offensively is predicated in getting the ball to him," Hixson said. "Once he gets it, he does a great job of finishing."

Blytheville extended its lead to double figures (30-19) for the first time midway through the second quarter. From that point, the Tigers -- who turned the ball over nine times in the second quarter -- and the Chickasaws swapped baskets until halftime interrupted play with Blytheville leading 34-23.

The Chickasaws opened up the third quarter on fire, hitting six of their first seven shots, one of which was the first of two open-court dunks by 6-1 junior guard James Cullins, who scored 13. Blytheville used its full court pressure to produce four fast-break baskets. Before they could blink, the Tigers found themselves down 46-25 with 4:29 left in the third quarter.

"I think we played pretty solid," Hixson said. "We had kind of lost our confidence but slowly but surely we're regaining some of that. And we'll need it for Friday night (when Blytheville plays Sikeston for the championship)."

One of the few bright spots for Central was the play of 6-3 senior forward Kelly Illers, who scored 12 to lead Cape Central.

"I thought Kelly had a fine ballgame," Reutzel said. "I thought he showed some heart tonight. We just have to have the whole unit come in and do the same thing.

"(The Chickasaws) were a good basketball team. I think we are better than what we played, but they deserve the credit. They put on some pressure and we didn't handle it well. We just have to get better."

Central outscored Blytheville 12-7 in the fourth quarter to make the game somewhat respectable, but both teams' second strings were inserted with about 3:00 left.

Central will play Poplar Bluff tonight at 7 in the third-place game.

Charleston 53, Notre Dame 50

In consolation action, Charleston recorded its first victory of the season behind 19 points by Jeffrey Ewing.

Notre Dame, the third seed, finished the tournament 0-2 and fell to 1-5 overall.

"It was a disappointing tournament," said Notre Dame coach Chris Janet. "We really thought we'd have a better showing than that. We've got to make some corrections on some things."

Michael Wehner led the Bulldogs with 15 points and Anthony Ressel added 12.

Charleston (1-3) jumped out to a 15-10 lead in the first quarter and led 23-21 at halftime. The Bluejays held another 15-10 scoring advantage in the third quarter for a 38-31 lead.

Janet was particularly displeased with his team's 25 turnovers.

"We like out team and think we can be good, but there are certain things we can't do," he said. "We committed 25 turnovers. It's tough to win close ballgames when you make that many turnovers."