CAPE CENTRAL GIRLS ROUT HAZELWOOD CENTRAL 63-38

When Cape Girardeau Central High's girls basketball team didn't shoot well, it still led. When the shooting heated up, the game quickly turned into a rout.

The Lady Tigers went only 5 of 12 from the field in the first quarter of Saturday afternoon's game against visiting Hazelwood Central -- and still took a lead into the second quarter.

"I thought we came out kind of lethargic; we weren't shooting the ball very well and we weren't shooting the shots that I really wanted us to take," said Cape Central coach Paula Watkins.

The Lady Tigers warmed up in the second quarter and proceeded to blow out the Lady Hawks 63-38.

Cape Central improved to 8-2, dropping Hazelwood Central to 9-7.

The Lady Tigers outscored Hazelwood Central 24-6 in the second quarter and 50-27 in the final three quarters. Cape Central never trailed.

"I thought we should have been pounding the ball inside because I really thought they couldn't match up with us inside," said Watkins. "We did a better job of that in the second quarter, and when the inside shots started falling then the outside shots started falling."

Cape Central's Laura Lukens, a 6-foot senior, took advantage of the passes inside. Lukens scored 14 of her 18 points in the first half.

"Laura played well -- and we expected her to," Watkins said. "It was a game where we thought she could be a dominating factor just because of her size and strength. She did a good job on the offensive boards."

Nichole Thiele, the Lady Tigers' catalyst, led all scorers with 20 points. No Cape Central players, other than Lukens or Thiele, had more than seven points.

"Nichole's consistent and she plays well for us every night," Watkins said.

Hazelwood Central trailed just 15-13 a minute into the second quarter. Cape Central then scored 28 of the next 32 points.

"I thought we started playing pretty well right before halftime," said Watkins. "We just didn't have the intensity that I wanted, so we changed defenses and we changed our press a little bit and we picked it up and that's when the ballgame turned around."

Hazelwood Central coach Jerry Stultz said it was basically a matter of being overmatched.

"The thing is we didn't play very well defensively and (Cape Central) shot the ball real well," said Stultz. "We got beat; they're a better team."

Hazelwood Central was led by Tiffany Gupton with 12 points.