SportsFebruary 25, 2023
C3D1: NMCC tops Caruthersville for third straight district title
NEW MADRID, Mo. — New Madrid County Central proved too much for Caruthersville in the MSHSAA Class 3, District 1 Championship at NMCC High School. The Eagles (20-7) captured a district title and reach 20 wins for the third consecutive season with the 63-44 victory over the Tigers (16-5) on Friday, Feb. 24...
By Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat
NEW MADRID, Mo. — New Madrid County Central proved too much for Caruthersville in the MSHSAA Class 3, District 1 Championship at NMCC High School.
The Eagles (20-7) captured a district title and reach 20 wins for the third consecutive season with the 63-44 victory over the Tigers (16-5) on Friday, Feb. 24.
“We came out on fire,” said NMCC assistant coach Dontre Jenkins. “But the key was the defense. We stepped it up, played with a sense of urgency and focused on playing great defense.”
Jadis Jones and Brayden Newsom each made several strong plays inside to help NMCC get out to a 15-5 lead, but Isaiah Rodgers knocked down a 3-pointer with a couple of minutes to go to narrow the lead to 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.
BJ Williamson scored the first six points of the second quarter, including an impressive contested layup in transition over two defenders, to extend the lead to 21-8.
Jones added a couple of made shots and AJ Ruff scored to increase the lead to 27-8 before Rodgers end the Tigers scoring drought with a finish through contact with three minutes and 36 seconds until halftime.
Jones scored a game-high 29 points, while Williamson was the game’s next leading scorer with 18.
‘[Jones and Williamson] are the guys we’ve been going to all year,” Jenkins said. “We know that they’ll make something happen when we need it. They both stepped up and got it done for us tonight, just like they have been all year.”
The Eagles continued to build to the lead when Kayden Minner buried 3-pointers on two straight possessions and Williamson hit a deep outside shot to make it 36-12 with about two minutes left in the second quarter.
“[Minner] stepped up with those back-to-back 3-pointers,” Jenkins said. “[Jones and Williamson] did a great job penetrating to the basket. [Newsom] had some good offensive rebounds that he put back into the hoop, and [Ruff] was penetrating and shooting floaters.
“Our guys did what they usually do,” he continued. “They got to their spots, did their jobs and nobody tried to do anything out of the ordinary.”
Jermonte Alexander drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to narrow the lead the 38-18 at halftime.
“We came out a little jittery and credit NMCC for that,” said Caruthersville coach Lamont Bell. “We knew they were going to come out and do what they do. Full-court basketball is just [NMCC head] coach [Lennis McFerren’s] style. We didn’t handle it well early, and every time we tried to make a run late we had some turnovers. The whole game plan was to not turn the ball over against this team because we knew they would make us pay.”
The Tigers played better in the second half and showed some flashes of what could have been, but it never felt like the game was in jeopardy for the Eagles as Jones and Williamson continued to make clutch plays at the most important moments.
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After Caruthersville finished the third quarter on a solid run, Jones started the fourth quarter by blocking an outside shot and finishing at the rim on the other end of the court.
The closest the Tigers came to getting back in the game was when they cut the lead to 15 points with about five minutes to go in the game, but again, the Eagles standouts responded. Williamson immediately scored an easy bucket inside after Jones grabbed an offensive rebound and the defense collapsed on him. Jones then sealed the game with a dunk in transition that sent the Eagles fans into a frenzy and extended the lead to 54-35.
NMCC was solid in nearly every aspect of the game except when it came to converting at the free throw line, finishing 8-of-27.
“That’s been our Achilles heel all year,” Jenkins said. “We have to figure something out and we have a couple of days to do it.”
NMCC is ranked No. 4 in Class 3 and will face defending state champs and No.1-ranked Charleston (22-6) in the sectional at Bloomfield High School on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7:45 p.m.
“It should be a good one between two good programs,” Jenkins said. “It’s going to come down to which team can take care of the basketball and forced the other team into some mistakes.”
McFerren is one of the most respected coaches in the state. He’s won nine state championships (seven at Charleston and two at NMCC), and too many district championships to keep track.
“Stuff like that doesn’t matter,” McFerren said. “It’s all about the kids and them enjoying this moment. I was a little worried because we had such a close game [at Caruthersville] a few weeks ago, but our guys were ready to play and I’m proud of them. They got after it defensively.”
The Tigers graduate three senior starters, but also return a gifted young core of players.
“We expect to continue competing at a high level,” Bell said.
__NMCC 63, CARUTHERSVILLE 44__
C’Ville 8 10 8 6 — 44
NMCC 15 23 8 17 — 63
__Caruthersville (44) —__ Abeyon Motton 15, Lawrence Epkins 11, Isaiah Rodgers 10, Jermonte Alexander 6, Danny Ricks Jr. 2. FG: 19. FT: 5-12. F: 20. (3-pointers: Rodgers 1. Fouled out: Ricks Jr., Rodgers.)
__NMCC (63) —__ Jadis Jones 29, BJ Williamson 18, Kayden Minner 8, Brayden Newsom 6, AJ Ruff. FG: 26. FT: 8-27. F: 16. (3-pointers: Minner 2, Williamson 1. Fouled out: none.)
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