CAPE CENTRAL GIRLS EMERGE FROM BREAK, DEFEAT DESOTO

With her quickness and overall athletic ability, Cape Girardeau Central High senior guard Nichole Thiele has been in a league of her own in many of the Lady Tigers' games this season.

On Saturday, Thiele wasn't alone.

Central's game at the Tiger Field House against DeSoto featured another Thiele-type player -- Lady Dragons senior guard Jaime Miller.

Thiele and Miller both put on a display, but Thiele got some help from her teammates, and the Lady Tigers won 64-54.

Central, which never trailed, improved to 6-2, dropping DeSoto to 6-5. DeSoto, which started the season 5-2, has lost three of its last four games.

Thiele scored 19 of her team-high 25 points in the first half. Miller had 25 points in the second half and led all scorers with 34.

While no other DeSoto player scored more than seven points, Central got 12 points from both Elizabeth Kunz and Laura Lukens, and Brooke Spradling added nine.

Thiele came out on fire, and her 19 first-half points were only one less than DeSoto's 20 as a team.

"Thiele is the most improved player of any player I've seen; she's just really good," said DeSoto coach Bob Bradshaw. "Central beat us by 15 last season and she wasn't really much of a factor in that game."

Central coach Paula Watkins said that Thiele hasn't necessarily improved her skills; she's just become more assertive.

"She (Thiele) had the same skill level last year as she does this year," said Watkins. "The difference in Nichole Thiele between this year and last year is her confidence level and the authority that she's playing with. She's finally realized that she can take charge and that people will follow her lead.

"She's a spark for us. She's real quick and she can take control of the ball game. She's our quarterback."

The game wasn't as close as the final score indicates. Central led by 21 points at halftime, 41-20, before DeSoto made the game respectable against the Lady Tigers' bench.

After Central opened an 11-3 lead in the first quarter, DeSoto made the game as close as 20-16 seconds into the second period.

The Lady Dragons then went ice-cold and scored only four points in the next 7:50. DeSoto went 3 of 18 from the field in the second period and missed all eight of its 3-point attempts.

"When we don't shoot well we're not a very good basketball team," said Bradshaw. "The second quarter just killed us. We just didn't shoot well and we got out-rebounded.

"They (Central) are an excellent basketball team that has a good chance to go into the state playoffs."

Central's lead peaked at 23 points early in the third quarter and was cut to 10 with about three minutes left in the game. At that time Central's starters entered the game.

"For the first game back after a two-week layoff I was pretty pleased," said Watkins.

Central dominated the JV game and won 42-8.

DeSoto hit no field goals in the first half and trailed 19-2 entering the third quarter.

Kim Aslinger and Erica McDonald both had 10 points for Central.