Cape Central survives OT thriller against Poplar Bluff

The Cape Central Tigers girls basketball team defeated the Poplar Bluff Mules 62-57 on Thursday at Cape Central High School. Emani Summers scored 32 points for the Tigers, including 17 in the fourth quarter and overtime to secure the win.

Central head coach Aaron Lee said Summers is not only a great player but also a great leader for the team.

“She's bought into what we're doing. She plays hard, there’s some things she needs to work on, but as far as competitiveness she gives us the competitive edge that we need,” Lee said. “She does a good job of leading us offensively all the time.”

Central got into some early foul trouble in the first quarter as Poplar Bluff’s Ireland Gowen got into the paint, and subsequently to the free-throw line several times. Summers kept the Tigers in the game with eight points to trail by just two, 12-10 after one.

The second quarter saw the rest of the Tiger offense get going as Gracyn Morris and Allie Cairns finished with 11 and 10, respectively. Central also did a better job of defending Gowen inside, the Tigers took a 25-21 lead into halftime. Lee said the team switched defensive strategies on Gowen and executed it well.

“When a kid is playing like that, they're going to be hard to guard but we finally figured out to front the post player and put somebody on the backend to help, so when she caught it we made her attempts more difficult,” Lee said.

Poplar Bluff came out hot in the third, unable to go inside the Mules struck by sinking back-to-back threes to take the lead. Some Tiger turnovers allowed Poplar Bluff to extend their lead to 37-34 after three.

The fourth quarter was back and forth with neither team able to pull away, the Mules held a two-point lead with 6.7 seconds left. Summers went the length of the court in that time for a game-tying layup to head to overtime with a 50-50 score.

“I knew she would have a clean drive to the basket because who wants to foul in the last minute of the game? Most kids don't,” Lee said. “From our perspective, we felt like she would have a clean run to the rim and she ended up having a clean run to the right.”

Central outscored the Mules 12-7 in the overtime period to hold for their first conference win of the season. The Tigers will next travel to take on Kelly on Monday at 7:30 p.m.