Cape Central boys basketball holds off archrival Jackson

Cape Central's Jawone Newell found himself in a bit of trouble as he corralled a pass near the half-court line with his team clinging to a two-point lead over archrival Jackson late in the fourth quarter.

With one foot in the air and two Jackson players closing in to trap, Newell lobbed a pass to the right baseline, and teammate Austin Parker was there to grab it.

Parker drove to the basket and threw down a thunderous dunk, sending the Tiger faithful into an uproar and sparking an 8-1 run over the final 57.3 seconds of Central's 57-48 victory over the Indians on Tuesday at Central High School.

Cape Central's Austin Parker looks to pass to a teammate around Jackson's Jacob Friess in the first quarter Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 at Cape Central High School.Glenn Landberg

"That was a big play," Central coach Drew Church said. "We've been in a lot of close games this year, and I think that keeps our kids together. They don't ever quit."

The Tigers will get their chance to solidify a regular-season SEMO Conference championship and cap off a big week when they face undefeated Sikeston on Friday.

"We're always fired up when we play Jackson or Sikeston," said the 6-foot-4 sophomore Parker, who finished with 14 points. "It's a big conference game. We've just got to do what we do all the time and just prepare for it, take it day by day."

Central (18-4, 4-1 SEMO Conference) entered the fourth quarter leading 39-32 and pushed its lead to eight points when Newell laid the ball in at the 4:06 mark of the period. Jackson (12-11, 1-4) responded with an 8-2 spurt that was capped by a putback from Cameron Hester with 1:39 to go in the game, cutting his team's deficit to 49-47.

"We had a couple stretches where we got back in the game and made some shots," Indians coach Darrin Scott said. "I thought we were moving the ball pretty well. We did some good things.

Jackson's Garrett Walker drives to the hoop in the fourth quarter against Cape Central Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 at Cape Central High School.Glenn Landberg

"My biggest thing for them is to just finish around the basket a little better because when you're in a game like this where you're not making shots from the outside, you need to finish around the basket and get a couple easy ones, and that's what we didn't do."

The Tigers finished 19 of 23 (83 percent) at the free-throw line, including 6 of 6 in the final period.

Al Young finished with a game-high 20 points to lead the way for Central. He did most of his damage at the charity stripe, knocking down all 10 of his attempts.

Church was pleased with the way Young attacked on offense and perhaps even more pleased with his ability to convert from the free-throw line.

"I thought in the second half, he did a nice job of getting in the lane and kind of drawing people and dishing a couple times," Church said. "He's got to do that, especially when people are keying in on him. He's got to share the ball, and he did a good job of that tonight."

After three lead changes and one tie, the Indians opened up a 14-7 lead when Garrett Walker concluded an 8-2 run with 2:10 remaining in the opening period. The Tigers answered with a 7-1 burst that pulled them within a point, 15-14, heading into the second frame.

The Cape Central student section erupts after a dunk in the fourth quarter against Jackson Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 at Cape Central High School.Glenn Landberg

There were three ties in the second quarter, the last of which was broken when Blake Harris converted a putback that moved Central ahead for good with 3:37 left in the half. Harris' bucket sparked an 8-2 burst for the Tigers heading into the break. They led 27-21 at halftime.

Church said he expected another back-and-forth game in the third and final meeting this season between the two teams. Central defeated Jackson 51-43 in the SEMO Conference Tournament consolation final before edging out a 46-44 win in the championship of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

"With Jackson, it's always a physical, back-and-forth game," Church said. "It's usually kind of an ugly game, and I thought there were times we didn't play very well tonight. But we fought back when it counted."

The Indians' sputtered in the second quarter, during which they shot 2 of 13 (15 percent) from the floor. Jackson's Jacob Smith provided five of his 15 points during the period.

The Tigers opened up a 33-21 lead before Walker hit a 3-pointer from the right elbow to pull the Indians within single digits, 33-24, with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter.

Walker paced the Indians with 17 points, including nine in the third period.

"When we put Jacob inside there in the second half, we kind of got him the ball and got a few things done inside, I felt like," Scott said. "... [Walker] was still able to get to the basket and get in there and make some plays for us. He's been doing good things offensively for us."

Jackson struggled from beyond the arc, finishing 3 of 21 (14 percent). The Indians were 16 of 54 (30 percent) from the field.

"We've got to stop the same old song," Scott said. "We got down, kind of dug a hole for ourselves, fought back to make it close and just couldn't get over the hump. We've just got to do a better job early in the game, the second quarter, of keeping it closer.

"... We've got to find a way to do the little things better and have a little more faith in our teammates."

Central increased its lead to 11 before Jackson used a 4-0 spurt to trim its deficit to 39-32 heading into the final eight minutes.

Zyshon Mallory contributed eight of his 13 points for the Tigers in the fourth quarter.

Central shot 19 of 48 (40 percent) from the field.

The Tigers have yet to face top-ranked Sikeston this season, adding even more excitement to Friday night's matchup. Church said he likes his team's standing at this juncture of the season.

"If you'd have told me at the beginning of the year that we'd be 18-4 at this point, I'd have been very surprised," Church said. "I hate to say it, but it's just another game for us. And that's the way we're going to approach it.

"We're going to try to limit our turnovers. We're going to try to play extremely hard. We're going to try to make their shots hard and get good shots of our own. They're a very, very good team, so it will give us kind of a test of where we're at and where we need to be."

Jackson 14 7 11 16 -- 48

Cape Central 15 12 12 18 -- 57

JACKSON (48) -- Garrett Walker 17, Jacob Smith 15, Stephen Irons 6, Cameron Hester 6, Pete Lake 2, Brett Varner 2. FG 16, FT 13-23, F 14. (3-pointers: Walker 2, Irons 1. Fouled out: None.)

CAPE CENTRAL (57) -- Al Young 20, Austin Parker 14, Zyshon Mallory 13, Jawone Newell 6, Tevyn Wright-Hunt 2, Blake Harris 2. FG 19, FT 19-23, F 18. (3-pointers: None. Fouled out: None.)

JV -- Jackson won 67-60