Cape Central boys basketball team escapes vs. rival Jackson to reach semifinals

An exciting quarterfinal round at the Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament was capped by an absolute thriller between longtime rivals.

Central and Jackson captivated the Show Me Center crowd with a tense, back-and-forth affair that left little margin for error and absolutely no breathing room.

Fourth-seeded Central was on the right side of the game's 10th lead change midway through the fourth quarter and held on for a 78-76 win over the fifth-seeded Indians on Tuesday night.

"It was one of the best games I've ever played in in my life," Central senior forward T.J. Tisdell said. "They played hard. We played hard. The momentum kept shifting. They're a good team. It's a big rival game."

The Tigers (7-2) advanced to play top-seeded Charleston in Thursday's 6 p.m. semifinal. The Indians (6-3) will face Scott City at 3 p.m. in a fifth-place semifinal.

Central's Vance Toole attempts to steal the ball from Jackson's Josh Daume during the first quarter Tuesday at the Show Me Center. (Kristin Eberts)

Central senior guard Vance Toole's 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter put Central ahead for the final time at 66-64.

"I was really looking to get the ball inside, but I found myself open," said Toole, whose 12 points came on four 3-pointers. "I was feeling it and luckily it went in."

The Tigers were far from out of the woods despite building the biggest lead of the second half by either side when sophomore guard Tim Booker's layup with 2:29 left made it 70-64.

Booker missed two free throws with Central ahead 70-66 and 1:30 remaining.

But Booker would redeem himself when he hit 4 of 4 from the line in the final 39 seconds to help the Tigers hold on.

"I just had to put those first two out of my mind," said Booker, who scored 16 points. "I just had to concentrate and knock them down to help the team."

Central needed every one of Booker's free throws, along with the four consecutive by Tisdell in the final 1:05. Tisdell led all scorers with 28 points.

Jackson, which trailed 74-68 after Booker's two foul shots with 39 seconds left, got 3-pointers by senior guard Caleb Newcomer and sophomore forward Karson King to make it 76-74 with 15 seconds remaining.

After Tisdell's two free throws with 13 seconds left, Jackson sophomore forward Calvin Lysell's basket at the 8-second mark again sliced the deficit to a pair at 78-76.

The Tigers left open the door when they missed two foul shots with 6 seconds left, but sophomore guard Josh Daume's well-contested 3-pointer at the buzzer was well short.

"It was a great game," Central coach Drew Church said. "They were very prepared. They threw a bunch of defenses at us. Coach [Darrin] Scott had a great game plan."

Sophomore forward Jamal Cox added 11 points for the Tigers, who made 24 of 36 free throws compared to 12 of 18 for the Indians.

King had a big game for Jackson with 23 points. Newcomer and senior center John Meyer both added 14. Junior forward Luke Stevens contributed 11.

Daume turned in some second-half heroics off the bench that nearly tilted the game toward the Indians.

Daume, who was scoreless in the first half, pumped in nine points in the second half. His 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in the third quarter tied things at 53-53.

Daume buried another 3-pointer in the opening moments of the final period to put the Indians up 58-53 for their largest second-half lead.

"Karson did a great job and Josh hit some big shots," Scott said. "I was proud of our guys. I thought we really competed and made some big shots."

In addition to the 10 lead changes, there were five ties. Central owned the game's largest advantage of seven points early in the second quarter. Jackson's biggest lead was six points in the second period, and the Indians were up 37-35 at the break.

Jackson 17 20 16 23 -- 76

Central 21 14 18 25 -- 78

JACKSON (76) -- Josh Daume 9, Caleb Newcomer 14, Braxton McDowell 3, Calvin Lysell 2, Karson King 23, John Meyer 14, Luke Stevens 11. FG 29, FT 12-18, F 25. (3-pointers: Daume 2, Newcomer 2, McDowell 1, King 1. Fouled out: Stevens.)

CENTRAL (78) -- Ross McClanahan 3, Vance Toole 12, Tim Booker 16, Garan Evans 8, T.J. Tisdell 28, Jamal Cox 11. FG 24, FT 24-36, F 14. (3-pointers: Toole 4, Evans 2. Fouled out: none.)