CAPE CENTRAL HAD BAD START, FALLS TO KENNETT

KENNET -- A poor start helped doom Cape Girardeau Central High's boys basketball team to its third straight loss Friday night as the Tigers fell to host Kennett 54-48.

Central, now 4-8, fell behind 12-2 after one quarter and 25-14 at halftime. The Tigers pulled to within 37-35 late in the third quarter but could draw no closer as the 9-4 Indians won going away.

"We came out cold in the first quarter," said Central coach Brett Reutzel. "They played a tough zone, but we also let little things catch up with us, such as not blocking out on free throws and committing turnovers."

Central's Eric Wessel was the only Tiger who scored in double figures as he put in 19 points. The Tigers' leading scorer, Ross Conner, was limited to just six points.

Larry Green paced Kennett with 15 points while Anton McKinney added 12.

Cape Central's JV squad won 55-46.

Jackson 46, Poplar Bluff 44

POPLAR BLUFF -- John Oehl hit a 12-footer with three seconds left as Jackson rallied from a 26-18 halftime deficit to post a big victory.

Jackson had the ball with 50 seconds remaining and held for the last shot. Levi Bollinger drove to the basket and passed off to Oehl, who was wide open.

Poplar Bluff called a timeout, but did not get off a shot before time expired.

Tory Meyr led Jackson (6-6) with 21 points, while Oehl finished with 12. Only five players found the scoring column for Jackson.

Poplar Bluff, meanwhile, had no player in double figures.

Jackson held the Mules to nine points in both the third and fourth quarters.

"We played much better offensively in the second half," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "And we played just a little better defensively."

Advance 62, Bernie 56

BERNIE -- The Class 1A Hornets may be ranked seventh in the state, but they were happy to leave Bernie with a narrow margin of victory and improve to 10-1.

Bernie (10-3) had lost only two close games to Doniphan and Kennett prior to meeting Advance.

"They have some outstanding outside shooters," said Advance coach Jim Hall. "We were happy to come away with a win and get out of there."

Advance led 31-26 at halftime and pulled away in the third period by edging Bernie by six points (21-15), but barely held on in the fourth for the win.

"They kept coming at us and cut it to two points with little over a minute left," said Hall, "but we made some free throws at the end of the ball game to get the win."

Adam Rainey led Advance in scoring, tossing in 17 points, while Garrett Broshuis and Daniel Turner each recorded 16.

Scott City 63, Chaffee 25

CHAFFEE -- Ryan Weatherspoon was at it again, scoring 21 points, to lead the Rams to an easy win as the state's fourth-ranked Class 2A squad improved to 12-1.

The Rams' Ben Sample added 12 points.

Chase Eskew paced Chaffee (1-6) with 17 points, 15 coming on five 3-point shots.

Scott City led 20-13 after one quarter and then outscored Chaffee 18-0 in the second period to go up 38-13 at halftime.

Charleston 58, Sikeston 55

SIKESTON -- Charleston survived a frantic finish to slip past arch-rival Sikeston.

Terrance Gillespie hit an off-balance 3-pointer with 22 seoncds left to put the Blue Jays ahead 56-55. Sikeston's Johnny Adams then put up a10-footer that did everything but fall through in the final seconds.

Charleston's Howard Biles rebounded the miss and was fouled with 0.5 seconds left. He hit two free throws for the final point.

Jordy Mixon paced Charleston (9-5) with 22 points while Biles had 13.

Sikeston (8-5) got 22 points from both Bryan Ellitt and Andre Morgan.

New Salem 76, Eagle Ridge Christian 50

MARBLE HILL -- Brandon Wickham tallied a game-high 31 points to pace New Salem.

Brandon Sparkmon tossed in 14 points and Andrew Mellies added 13 for Eagle Ridge, which fell to 3-1.