CENTRAL GIRLS NET PERRYVILLE 38-33

On Thursday, Cape Central's girls watched missed free throws force Jackson to do a bit of squirming in the closing moments.

Jackson ultimately survived its closure problems at the line.

Saturday against Perryville, the sisters Harris made sure a good defensive effort by Central wasn't for naught. The Lady Tigers' clutch free throw shooting earned straight A's in its 38-33 victory at the Tiger Field House.

That's A's as in Abby and Amy Harris, who combined for 6 of 6 foul shooting in the final 1:07 of the game.

With Central up 32-30, Abby Harris hit two free throws with 1:07 remaining, and then hit two more with 46 seconds left, pushing the lead to 36-30.

After Perryville's April Watts hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to cut the deficit to 36-33, Amy Harris added two more free throws with 9.9 seconds left for the final margin.

Central (17-6) went 9 of 10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

"The Harris girls really came through on those free throws for us at the end," said Central coach Paula Watkins. "When you get a lead and hit your free throws, the other team just can't win."

While the clutch shooting at the end preserved the win, Central's defense gave it the lead, Watkins said. The Lady Tigers held Perryville (17-8) to just 10 points in the first half.

"Defense won the ball game for us," Watkins said. "I knew we'd match up pretty well and it would just be who did things fundamentally better and I thought we played good defense. They're a good inside team and we're a good inside team; they have a quick guard (Watts) and we have a quick guard (Nichole Thiele)."

The game, which started sluggishly (the score was 4-4 after the first quarter), was close throughout; neither team led by more than four points in the first three quarters and no more than seven for the game. The game had seven ties and six lead changes.

"Cape came down and scored every time we had a lead. They did a nice job there and there wasn't much we could do about it," said Perryville coach Steve Wunderlich. "They played well and we played well; it was a fun high school game."

Central, which doesn't substitute much and generally plays only about seven players, came in on the heels of a tiring four-point loss to Jackson Thursday.

"I knew that after coming off Thursday night's game it was going to be tough for us to beat anybody -- especially a good team like Perryville," said Watkins.

The game was tied 21-21 with a little under three minutes left in the third quarter. After an inside basket by Elizabeth Kunz at the 2:30 mark, Thiele, who led all scorers with 12 points, scored on a drive to the basket with 27 seconds left in the period and Central led 25-21 entering the fourth quarter.

Although Perryville brought the game within two points, 32-30, when Dena Schumer hit a 15-footer with 1:50 left, the Lady Tigers, behind Abby Harris, led all of the fourth quarter. After going scoreless in the first three quarters, Harris hit two jumpers and four free throws in the fourth period.

Renee Kaempfe, a 6-foot junior, led the Lady Pirates with 10 points. Watts had eight and Schumer seven.

Central will play its final home game Monday against Sikeston.