Central drops season opener at Riverbend Classic

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Any fear the New Madrid County Central Eagles had about inexperience or lack of size was quickly alleviated Friday against the Central Tigers.

The Eagles grabbed a one-point halftime lead against the Tigers before holding on for a 63-55 win in the opener of the 19th annual Riverbend Classic.

"Nobody got rattled," New Madrid coach Travis Day said about his team. "We got up and Mikael Walker was able to help handle the ball, which we need him do more of, and Willie Jimerson can run off screens ... just a good start. These two [Riverbend] games as a coaching staff we look for more positives than negatives so we know what to work on."

If light of seeding for the upcoming SEMO Conference tournament, New Madrid's win qualifies as an upset over Central, newcomers to the Riverbend. The Eagles were chosen as the eighth-seed in the tournament, while the Tigers are the third seed.

The roles appeared reversed on Friday. Central spent almost the entire second half fighting from behind. Even after tying things up on an Andre Statum 3-pointer midway through the third quarter, the Tigers saw NMCC retake control.

Scott County Central’s Jeffery Porter goes up for a layup Friday during the Riverbend Classic in New Madrid, Mo. (CHRIS POBST ~ Standard-Democrat)

A conventional three-point play from Jimerson put the Eagles back on top for good with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left in the quarter. Drew Wilson followed with a basket in what became a 6-0 run.

A 3-pointer from Jalen Reddin closed the Tigers within 56-53 With 1:16 remaining in the game, but the Eagles were able to close out the win by going 7 of 10 at the charity stripe.

"It got to a point where it was a free-throw contest," Day said. "I think they were shooting one-and-one early in the third quarter so they were able to score points without the clock moving. That's when I think they got back in the game. But what I like to see early in the season is we had our backs to the wall, but we didn't fold and we kept going and kept fighting."

Jimerson scored 25 points, including 13 of 17 at the line. The Eagles hit on 22 of 34 (65 percent).

The Tigers hit 11 of 25 free throws (44 percent), including 6 of 12 in the fourth.

"Jimerson is a good player," Tigers coach Drew Church said. "He was able to control a lot of aspects of the game. They hit their free throws and we didn't. Just when we'd make a run they'd stop the bleeding and make a good play. They had a good game."

Statum, a 6-foot-6 junior, netted 23 points and was the lone Tiger in double figures.

Harvey Brown and TJ Clark had 10 points apiece for New Madrid.

NMCC 17 15 14 17 -- 63

Cape Central 11 20 11 14 -- 55

NMCC (63) -- Willie Jimerson 25, Mikael Walker 2, TJ Clark 10, Vontre Jones 10, Dre Wilson 3, Drew Palmer 5, Asten Newsom 2, Gage Silman 6. FG 20, FT 22-34, F 23. (3-pointers: Palmer 1. Fouled out: none.)

CENTRAL (55) -- Al Young 8, Jalen Reddin 6, Khane Booker 5, Braion Owens 2, Jamal Cox 6, Chase Haggerty 3, Mekial Steele 2, Andre Statam 23. FG 20, FT 11-25, F 25. (3-pointers: Reddin 2, Booker 1, Statum 1. Fouled out: Nikylus Thompson, Young, Reddin.)

Covington 61, Scott County 56

Scott County Central held a seven-point lead after the first quarter but ultimately suffered a season-opening loss in the Riverbend Classic on Friday.

Sophomore Jeffery Porter scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the first quarter, including three 3-pointers.

Covington overtook the Braves in the second quarter for a 35-32 lead at halftime.

Scott Central hung within seven points the entire second half, and with only five minutes left in the contest, closed within 53-51, on a Kendall Blissett basket.

The Chargers' Derrian Tipton and the Braves' Juwan Owens swapped 3-pointers to keep the two-point difference before Malcome Tayler hit a bucket with 1:31 remaining to push Covington ahead 58-54.

Malcome Tayler hit the final two free throws to put the game out of reach and send the Braves home with their first loss of the season.

Owens added 11 points for Scott Central.

Tayler had a game-high 18 points for Covington.

SCC 23 9 13 11 -- 56

Covington 16 19 16 10 -- 61

SCC (56) -- Juwan Owens 11, Trevion Moore 8, Jeffery Porter 15, Kendall Blissett 4, Javonta Daniel 7, Cameron Blissett 3, Matthew Blissett 8. FG 23, FT 3-4, F 17. (3-pointers: Owens 1, Moore 2, Porter 3, Cameron Blissett 1. Fouled out: Daniel.)

COVINGTON (61) -- Jalen Claybon 2, Fentrice Flowers 4, Derrian Tipton 17, Malcome Taylor 18, Bobby Shanks 10, Lee Somerville 4, Kaleb Estes 4, Delvin Russel 2. FG 24, FT 8-16, F 10. (3-pointers: Flowers 1, Tipton 3, Shanks 1. Fouled out: none.)