Central may face Jackson for fifth time this season

~ The Tigers have dropped the four previous meetings entering this week's Class 5 District 1 tournament.

The Jackson vs. Central rivalry game has been a common occurrence this winter.

The two boys basketball teams have played each other four times. And there is still a chance for one more meeting in the Class 5 District 1 tournament this week.

District action begins today at Jackson High School.

The No. 1 seeded Indians, who have beaten the Tigers in all four meetings, have a first-round bye along with No. 2 seed Poplar Bluff.

First-round action today pits No. 4 Central against No. 5 Fox at 5:30 p.m. The the winner will play Jackson at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The other first-round matchup today is between No. 3 Hillsboro and No. 6 Seckman at 7 p.m. The winner plays Poplar Bluff at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Jackson senior Spencer Goodman knows Central or Fox will be a difficult second-round opponent.

Central played its best game against the Indians the last time the two met (Feb. 5), leading by as many as 17 points in the first quarter before Jackson battled back to win by three points.

"They are a great team," Goodman said of Central. "We've played them four times and have been lucky to win all four. We know that the last one, if we play them, it is going to be a tough one. ... They are just athletic. They can all jump and make it interesting inside."

Jackson won the district last winter before losing in sectionals to Lindbergh.

Goodman also said Poplar Bluff will be a difficult matchup for any team.

Jackson won a 69-64 contest over the Mules on the road in mid-January.

"They play hard every minute they are out on floor," Goodman said. "They've got two big kids that know how to rebound, and every kid on their team can make big plays."

Jackson's Matt Lang said the Indians must remain prepared and play tough defense this week.

"As long as we play hard defense, I don't see anybody blowing us out of the water," Lang said. "I think we can compete with just about anybody if we play good defense."

Jackson coach Darrin Scott said his team needs to play with more urgency in districts.

"Everything becomes more intense and each possession becomes more important," Scott said. "I think for us doing a good job each possession because any mistake you make is going to be magnified."

Scott said Central would be a difficult second-round opponent because of its strong shooting lately, and Fox would be tough because of its size.

"Cape shoots the ball so well," Scott said. "Any time you can go 9-for-11 [3-pointers] in one half like they did against Notre Dame and hit seven against us in the first half, that makes them very dangerous. They can beat just about anybody when they shoot the basketball that well.

"Even Fox has a 6-6 kid [Alen Hadzimahovic] who's averaging [about] 20 points per game," Scott added. "So if he gets the ball, he's very good. And then Poplar Bluff, they have played with injures and played a tough schedule, but they have the two Ralston kids [Jay and Riley] who are very good and can score. And then the same thing: when they're shooting it well, they are a very good team."

Central coach Drew Church said his team needs to play better at other facets of its game when it is not shooting well, including getting to the free-throw line and concentrating on the defensive end.

He added that his team must do a better job of holding leads and learning to finish off games.

"You've got to play to win, not to try not to lose," Church said. "That's one thing we've stressed with our kids a lot. You just try to go through situations where you're up by this amount with this much time left and [I] stress continuing to do things the same way. You can't stop attacking and stop playing."

Church emphasized that his team must play strong defense and limit Hadzimahovic.

"Fox is a good team and they play a lot of good competition up there," Church said. "I'm sure Jackson is on [my player[']s] minds, but first of all we have to concentrate on Fox. ... Confidence is a big thing right now because we've lost six or seven straight. But this team is pretty resilient."

The boys championship game will be 7 p.m. Thursday.

Girls bracket

The Jackson and Central girls team will also be in action this week in the Class 5 District 1 tournament at Jackson High School.

No. 1 Poplar Bluff and No. 2 Jackson enjoy first-round byes.

The No. 4 seeded Tigers will play No. 5 Fox tonight at 7 p.m. The winner faces Poplar Bluff at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The other first-round game features No. 3 Seckman against No. 6 Hillsboro today at 5:30 p.m. The victor plays Jackson at 7:30 Wednesday.

The championship game will be 7 p.m. Friday.

Jackson coach Sam Sides stressed that his team must play better offensively in districts.

"If we play well enough, we can win our district," Sides said. "The big problem is that we can't score."

Sides said the team has not had a game recently in which it has scored in double figures each period. He said both Ashten Howard and Kelci Keith, who average about 10 points per game, must play well offensively.

"If they don't score, we're hurting," Sides said of Keith. "We're just struggling scoring as a team."

Sides did say his team has been playing strong defense and also rebounding well. It is just the shooting that has not been there recently.

"We just got be more patient and make sure we get a good shot," Sides said. "I think we can defend people well enough, it's just if we score enough to win."

Central coach Sherri Shirrell said she thinks her teams has a real shot at winning the district.

"Our kids have been working hard, getting ready for that," she said. "I think our biggest thing right now is staying focused. The ice storm didn't help us any because I think we lost focus. ... Right now our thing is to just get refocused and play together as a team.

"Our guard play needs to step up," Shirrell added. "We need to get some scoring out of someone else besides [Wendi Zickfield] and Sadie [Pittman] every night for us to be a better team."