CENTRAL GIRLS PICK UP WIN OVER CHARLESTON

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The Cape Girardeau Central Lady Tigers survived what coach Mark Ruark called "what may have been the worst two quarters of girls basketball I've seen" in defeating host Charleston 48-31 Thursday night.

The Lady Tigers, winners of three straight and now 10-6 on the season, outscored Charleston 21-13 in the first quarter, but the two teams combined for just 20 points over the next two quarters.

Central outscored the Lady Bluejays 6-3 in the second quarter and 7-4 in the third to take a 34-20 lead into the fourth quarter.

"It was our third game in three nights and we lacked intensity," Ruark said. "We had way too many turnovers and unforced errors."

Sarah Hyslop led Central with 16 points while Jessica Sinn followed with 13.

Monisha Murray led Charleston with 12 points.

Delta 57, Chaffee 51

DELTA, Mo. -- Delta's Rebecca Below poured in a game-high 29 points as Delta held off the Lady Red Devils.

Cook scored 13 points as only four Lady Bobcats found the scoring column.

Jennifer Vandeven led Chaffee with 20 points, followed by Morgan Kiefer with 12 and April Stafford chipped in with 10.

Delta erupted to a 29-14 lead by halftime, but Chaffee outscored Delta 24-16 in the fourth quarter.

Dexter 46, Scott City 45

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Dexter hit a shot at the buzzer to win the game as Scott City fell to 10-7.

The Lady Rams owned a 34-27 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Dexter overtook Scott City by hitting some 3-pointers.

Freshman Loren Groves, playing with the flu, scored 18 points to lead Scott City. Jennifer Bain added 10 points.

Scott City was hurt by hitting just two of eight free throws in the final period.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Chaffee 64, Zalma 51

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Chaffee snapped a six-game losing streak as the Red Devils shook off a slow start to knock off Zalma.

The Red Devils (5-8) fell behind 17-6 after the first quarter but they outscored the Bulldogs 24-7 in the second period to grab a 30-24 halftime lead.

Chase Eskew paced the Red Devils with 19 points while Perry Rice added 13. Chaffee was an impressive 19 of 23 from the free-throw line.

Zalma (0-10) got 18 points from Brad Issac.

JR. HIGH BASKETBALL

Central's boys claim wins

JACKSON, Mo. -- Cape Central's ninth-grade team improved to 15-0 with an 80-38 win over Farmington in the Jackson Tournament.

Mitch Craft led the Tigers with 25 points while Ryan Delp added 17.

Central's eighth graders posted a 39-33 win over Jackson to improve to 9-3.

Larenzo Braxton scored a team-high 18 points.