Central breezes past Bell City, will face Jackson in semis

After top-seeded Jackson made its way into the semifinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament with a rout of No. 9 Scott County Centra,l the first piece of a rivalry showdown with Central fell into place.

Central upheld its end of the bargain with a 65-40 rout of No. 5 Bell City on Tuesday at the Show Me Center. Central and Jackson will meet in a rematch of last year's final at 6 p.m. tonight. Bell City (6-3) will face Scott County Central in the fifth-place semifinals.

The Tigers (5-4) climbed over .500 and have won three of their last four. Central made the No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup look like quite a mismatch by jumping out to a 22-7 first-quarter lead. The Tigers were up by as many as 30 points at the end of the third quarter. Central held Bell City to 21 percent shooting from the floor, but Bell City cut the lead late with its starters going against Central's reserves.

Anthony Hempstead led the Tigers with 14 points. Darnell Wilks added 12 points for the Tigers from the post.

Bell City got 11 points from Phillip Gross and 10 from D.D. Gillespie.