C5D1: Cape Central survives Farmington’s late rally

The Cape Central Tigers managed to survive a late rally from the Farmington Knights as they escaped with a 52-47 win on Saturday at North County High School in the Class 5 District 1 semifinals.

Cape Central opened the contest scorching hot as they quickly raced out to a 10-0 lead, prompting a Knights timeout just two minutes into the game.

Perhaps the biggest catalyst in the Tigers’ success was their ability to force the Knights to make quick decisions offensively, leading to turnovers that sent Cape Central out in transition.

As a result of their good work defensively, the Tigers held a 20-4 lead after the first quarter.

Things began to flip slightly in the second quarter as the Knights began to settle into the game.

Farmington’s efforts coupled with some missed opportunities offensively by the Tigers allowed them to slowly claw back into the game.

The once 16-point lead was trimmed to 9 as the Tigers held a 31-22 advantage entering the locker room at halftime.

Farmington, appearing to have new life to begin the third quarter, quickly cut into the Tigers’ lead as Cape Central was clinging to a 38-35 lead.

A pair of free-throws from Tyseandre’ Edwards was good enough to give Cape Central a 40-35 lead entering the fourth quarter.

With every possession critical in the fourth, neither team was able to sustain any lengthy momentum, but it was the Tigers grinding the game out to take a 45-37 lead with four minutes to play in regulation.

With the Tigers holding a 49-44 lead and Farmington in possession, Cape Central put together perhaps their best defensive possession of the night, forcing a contested fall away three from Farmington that came up short.

Following the stop, Marquel Murray missed a pair of free throws, giving the Knights the ball back down 49-44 and they drilled a three-pointer to make it 49-47 with 5 seconds remaining.

The Knights fouled Jaydon Reynolds who split a pair of free throws, giving Farmington a chance to tie with a three-pointer, but the Knights called a timeout they didn’t have and Murray iced the game with two technical free throws.

Leading the Tigers offensively was Reynolds with 22 points in the win.

Cape Central (19-8) advances to the Class 5 District 1 title game where the Tigers will battle top-seeded Sikeston at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, at North County High School.

Sikeston won the regular season series 2-0 with a 72-57 win on Dec. 2 and a 70-47 win on Feb. 9.