C5D1: Cape Central blows by DeSoto to open postseason play

The Cape Central Tigers cruised to a dominating 95-39 win over the DeSoto Dragons in the opening round of the Class 5 District 1 Tournament on Wednesday at North County High School.

The first three minutes saw the Tigers struggle to find their shot, as they held a 4-3 lead.

“I thought we were a little rusty at first,” Tigers coach Drew Church said. “They came out in a triangle and two defense which took us a couple of possessions to get adjusted to.”

After what appeared to be a change in mentality the Tigers got to the paint at will and went on an 18-0 run to lead 22-3 and eventually, 26-5 after one quarter of play.

“Our game is, we’re going to go to the rim, going to get inside and take what the defense gives us,” Church said. “I thought our team was very unselfish.”

The offensive onslaught continued as the Tigers took a 54-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.

A lot of the success Cape Central had was predicated on the Tigers’ ability to control the passing lanes.

“I thought we did a pretty good job in the passing lanes,” Church said. “We really stressed guarding your guy and then making reversal passes hard. For the most part, I was happy with our defense.”

A 31-point outburst in the third quarter had the Tigers ahead 85-25 after three and the fourth quarter would conclude with the Tigers winning 95-25.

The 95-point night for the Tigers featured a balanced attack offensively that was led by Cameron Williams and Tyseandre’ Edwards, who both had 20 points in the win.

“I feel like we’ve seen pretty much every defense in the book this year,” Church said. “I feel like other teams have to pick their poison on what they want to take away and then we have to adjust. Our guys are doing a really good job of taking great shots depending on what the defense gives us.”

With the win Cape Central (25-2) will take on Windsor at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 3 in the semifinals of the Class 5 District 1 Tournament at North County High School in Bonne Terre.

__Cape Central 95, DeSoto 39__

DeSoto 5 12 8 14 — 39

Cape Central 26 28 31 10 — 95

__Cape Central (95) —__ Cam Williams 20, Tyseandre’ Edwards 20, Tyson Williams 17, LaTroy McIntosh 11, Jadeon Reed 8, Maurice Boyd 7, Jaydon Reynolds 4, Clayton McClard 4, Marquel Murray 2, Matayo Rivers 2. FG: 42. FT: 9-15. F: 16. (3-pointers: Edwards 1, C. Williams 1. Fouled out: none.)