Cape Central boys basketball team earns spot in Class 5 District 1 title game

The Northwest Lions never stood a chance.

Top-seeded Central raced out to a 12-2 lead, forced the Lions to use three timeouts in the first quarter and ran away 64-40 in a Class 5 District 1 boys basketball semifinal Wednesday at Jackson.

"That's one thing we stressed, what we called punching them in the nose first," Central coach Drew Church said. "We didn't want to play on our heels. Coming off that Dexter game, we really wanted to get moving in the right direction. I was proud of the way we came out. Still thought we could have played a little better defensively, but it's good to be moving on."

The Tigers made few mistakes in disposing of the Lions.

Central pounded the ball inside early, received strong guard play and forced 19 turnovers.

Central's Ross McClanahan handles the ball against Northwest's Christian Lamborn, Zack McKenney and Marion Brown, from left, during the third quarter of a Class 5 District 1 game on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in Jackson. Central won 64-40. (Kristin Eberts)

T.J. Tisdell and Jamal Cox were forces inside, and Garan Evans took care of business from the outside by displaying a variety of weapons for the Tigers.

"We were just looking inside-out to Tisdell," Evans said. "And see if he could get us open on the perimeter."

It helped that Northwest was keying on Tisdell and Cox.

Tisdell, a 6-foot-6 senior, has drawn plenty of double teams this year.

His job has been made easier by the emergence of Cox, a sophomore forward.

Central's Jamal Cox tries to tip in a shot against Northwest's Jacob Denbow during the fourth quarter Wednesday. Check out more photos at semoball.com. (Kristin Eberts)

Cox scored 10 points, all in the first half, to compliment Tisdell's 14.

"It's really good, it takes a lot of pressure off me," Tisdell said about Cox. "When they double me inside, they forget about him, and I pass to him and he just scores. He does a very good job at whatever he does."

Added Church: "It's big because a lot of focus is on T.J. right now, and it's good to have Jamal in a spot right now where if they do double or concentrate on T.J., he's there and T.J. can find him. It's been huge for Jamal to kind of fit in, in that way."

It was against the fourth-seeded Lions.

Central punished the Lions on the glass and consistently scored inside with their big men and guards.

"That's our game plan," Tisdell said. "Get the ball inside. Get it inside to me and Jamal and people start doubling us, and we kick it out to our guards and they make plays. That's what coach emphasizes a lot in practice, so we just try and do what he tells us to do."

Evans, a 5-11 guard, helped make the strategy work. He was impressive throughout and netted a game-high 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

"We were spread out," Evans said. "I just thought I could get inside and make plays."

Central (20-6) pushed its lead to 31-13 midway through the second quarter after its blistering start.

Northwest called its fifth, and final, timeout with 3 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter.

The Tigers stretched the lead to 34-17 at the half and dominated the second half.

Central used an 11-3 run to start the third quarter and a 6-0 run later in the quarter to push the lead to 51-24.

Northwest shot just 9 of 26 (35 percent) in the second half and 17 of 54 (31 percent) for the game.

The Tigers had four players in double figures.

"It keeps the pressure off the other teammates," Central senior Ross McClanahan said. "Knowing that anybody on the team can score, it takes a lot of pressure off."

Central 17 17 17 13 -- 64

Northwest 9 8 8 15 -- 40

CENTRAL (64) -- Ross McClanahan 10, Vance Toole 4, Garan Evans 18, T.J. Tisdell 14, Jamal Cox 10, Jacob Boerboom 4, No. 42 2, Bo Wilferth 2. FG 25. FT 13-19. F 11. (3-pointers Evans. Fouled out: none)

NORTHWEST (40) -- Matt Fisher 4, Christian Lamborn 13, Zack McKenney 9, Marion Brown 4, Clint Grobelny 4, Jacob Denbow 6. FG 17. FT 1-3. F 12. (3-pointers: Lamborn 3, McKenney, Brown. Fouled out: none)