Cape Central, Jackson boys basketball teams advance to SEMO Conference Tournament consolation final

SIKESTON, Mo. -- What a difference Al Young makes.

A day after riding the bench for undisclosed reasons, Cape Central re-inserted its most versatile player and Young made the most of his opportunity.

The Tigers' leading scorer from last season finished with a game-high 23 points to lead Central to a 66-56 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday during the SEMO Conference Tournament consolation semifinals at the Sikeston Field House.

"Obviously having Al back, that's just another scorer and another kid we can add," Central coach Drew Church said. "Maybe it was good that he didn't play last night."

Young, who was present but didn't play during No. 4 Central's first-round loss against No. 5 Poplar Bluff on Tuesday, scored nine of his team's first 16 points while helping the Tigers (2-4) to a wire-to-wire win.

Behind Young's 23, Jawone Newell chipped in 14, and Tevyn Hunt scored 10. The Tigers will play for the tournament's consolation championship at 5:30 p.m. Friday against second-seeded Jackson.

Carson Ketcher led Notre Dame, which was eliminated from the tournament, with 16 points while Ross Essner added 12.

"I think he needed to kind of refocus and realize that he needed to be out there helping the team," Church said about Young sitting out Tuesday. "Yesterday during the game, he was sitting with the coaches, and he was a leader. That's what I wanted to see, and I think he'll do that from now on."

Once Young got going, Central began taking its cues from the 6-foot-1 senior. The Tigers attacked the basket early while avoiding Notre Dame's full-court pressure and gained a 16-3 lead at one point in the first quarter.

"I think when teams press us, our kids like that," Church said. "They understand that they're coming after us, and they want to get past them and get a good shot. We did that. We got to the rim, made some shots and got to the free-throw line. This is a hard group to press. They're quick, athletic and the more we can practice, I think we can hit that middle guy and get even more."

Notre Dame was held without a point until Andrew LeGrand hit a 3-pointer four minutes in. The Bulldogs (2-3) fell behind 20-10 after the first quarter and looked a little sluggish playing its third game in three days, losing two of them.

"It's hard to play catch-up three days in a row," Notre Dame coach Paul Unterreiner said. "We shot ourselves in the foot and couldn't recover. We did a good job fighting until halftime, but defensively we were pretty bad tonight. Offensively, we were turning the ball over. You're not going to win many games with that combination."

Despite its early struggles, Notre Dame won the second quarter 18-10 to pull within two, 30-28, by halftime. They fell behind by nine midway through the third quarter and trailed 46-40 entering the fourth.

A 3-pointer from Blake Bauwens, who finished with eight, cut Notre Dame's deficit to six with 2:05 remaining. But back-to-back turnovers and a 5-for-6 effort at the free-throw line from Central kept any comeback from happening.

Turnovers were once again a problem for Notre Dame, which finished with 27 during a loss to Sikeston on Tuesday. The Bulldogs were minus-12 in the turnover margin against Central.

Notre Dame 10 18 12 16 -- 56

Central 20 10 16 20 -- 66

NOTRE DAME (56) -- Andrew LeGrand 3, Blake Bauwens 8, Josh Seabaugh 2, Ross Essner 12, Tanner Robert 2, Garrett Siebert 4, Winston Welter 4, Dawson Dohogne 4, Carson Ketcher 16. FG 19 FT 13-13 F 17. (3-pointers: LeGrand 1, Bauwens 2, Essner 3. Fouled out: None.)

CAPE CENTRAL (66) -- Al Young 23, Tevyn Hunt 10, Jawone Newell 14, Austin Parker 6, Blake Harris 2, Kway'Chon Chisom 9, Garrett Jackson 2. FG 23 FT 16-21 F 13. (3-pointers: Young 1, Hunt 2, Newell 1. Fouled out: None.)

Jackson 58, NMCC 54

Jackson used its size and strength to its advantage Wednesday, vaulting it into the SEMO Conference Tournament consolation finals.

Jackson coach Darrin Scott gives directions on the sideline during the consolation semifinals of the SEMO Conference Tournament Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, at the Sikeston Field House. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

Senior Garrett Walker had 15 points and 6-foot-7 sophomore Cameron Hester added 14 as Jackson defeated New Madrid County Central 58-54.

Second-seeded Jackson, who suffered a first-round loss to No. 7 Kennett on Monday, will take on fourth-seeded Cape Central on Friday at 5:30 p.m., for the consolation championship.

A year after winning its first SEMO Conference Tournament championship in school history, the sixth-seeded Eagles are out of the tournament after back-to-back losses.

Senior Chris Farr led NMCC (3-3) with 19 points. Javarcus Word, a junior, added 14.

"I liked our effort better than Monday," NMCC coach Travis Day said, referring to his team's 80-63 loss to Charleston. "We just have to get better at playing for four quarters."

The Eagles sprinted out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, with seven different players doing the damage. But a 20-11 lead after the first quarter quickly vanished after New Madrid was held to just four points the entire second frame. Meanwhile, Jackson scored 23.

"We got out of rhythm," Day said. "It was one of those games where we played hard, and then the second quarter we stopped doing what we were doing in the first quarter. They went to a zone and instead of staying in attack mode we got passive and wanted to hold the ball a little more and throwing up 3s. That's not us."

Jackson began the second with an 11-0 run capped by a hoop and harm from Jacob Smith to give the Indians a 22-20 lead. Jackson held the lead from that point.

The Indians got big first-half contributions from Hester, who scored eight in the first two quarters, and Stephen Irons, a 6-2 senior, who added six in the second. Smith, a 6-3 senior, added six more in the second frame as well, while the trio was unmatched under the basket as Jackson's height came into play.

"After the first quarter I thought we did a much better job of getting the ball inside," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "I told them I have to see Cam every time. Whether he's open or how they're guarding him, we know where the ball needs to go. As we keep growing and getting better at that, we'll get better offensively."

On top of Jackson scoring inside, it also effected rebounding. That area, Day said, wasn't a positive for NMCC.

"We just didn't put them on our backs," Day said. "I think it was more of us not attacking the rebounds and hoping someone else would get it. Their size is good for them and they hurt us with it."

Jackson went into halftime with a 34-24 lead but withstood one final rally from the Eagles in the third. NMCC pulled within two after a goaltending call with 2:48 left to play, but Jackson held strong into the fourth, 42-38.

Junior Jacob Friess scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter, which included a bucket to snap a nearly two-minute scoring drought that put the Indians ahead 54-44 with 1:22 remaining.

Jackson (2-2) has played four games in five days after starting its season with a loss on Saturday to Carbondale (Ill.).

"Tonight was the first time I saw where our guys were tired in stretches," Scott said. "We played a little more zone tonight and I think that helped. I was glad to see them fight through. Being up five or six in the fourth quarter against an athletic team that's pressing isn't always something easy to play against. I was happy to hold off there."

NMCC 20 4 14 16 -- 54

Jackson 11 23 8 16 -- 58

NMCC (54) -- Palmer Campbell 6, Craig Beasley 2, Javarcus Word 14, Chris Farr 19, Ronnie King 5, Jamal Jackson 4, Deon Jenkins 4. FG 25 FT 0-8 F 19. (3-pointers: Farr 3, King 1. Fouled out: Word.)

JACKSON (58) -- Jacob Friess 9, Garrett Walker 15, Jacob Smith 8, Pete Lake 2, Stephen Irons 10, Cameron Hester 14. FG 22 FT 12-19 F 12. (3-pointers: Walker 2. Fouled out: Smith.)