Central ousts Jackson

CEDAR HILL -- Central's Josh Harris drove in some, pulled up and scored on a jumper for the first basket of overtime Wednesday.

That field goal was all the Tigers really needed offensively.

That's because the Central defense shut out Jackson during the four-minute overtime.

Harris, a senior who was impressive all game, netted six points during the extra session to help his team outscore Jackson 11-0 to pull away with a 65-54 upset win over its rival in a Class 5 District 1 semifinal at Northwest High School.

Central (10-16) advanced to play top-seeded Poplar Bluff in Friday's district title game.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comCentral's Rick Russell draws a foul from Jackson defender Henrie Williams during Wednesday's Class 5 District 1 semifinal at Northwest High School.

Harris, who has gotten better as the season progressed and is looking like Central's go-to scorer, finished with a game-high 24 points.

"We just turned up the intensity," Harris said about overtime. "We boxed out. We helped out and watched for the shooters -- mainly for shooters Kyle Keith, Marcus Harris and [Zach] McDowell. We were just making sure they don't spot up and get good shots uncontested.

"It means a lot [to play for the district title]. We had a tough season early on in the season and people had doubted us."

Central trailed the entire game until tying it 46-46 with 5 minutes, 22 seconds left in regulation.

The game remained tight from there, and it was tied with 1:15 left when Jackson got the ball and ran the clock down for a final shot to win it. After a timeout with 5.4 seconds left, McDowell inbounded a pass to Marcus Harris, who dribbled up the middle and took a shot going toward the basket just before the buzzer sounded. The shot was no good sending the game to overtime.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comJackson's Bobby Clark draws a foul Wednesday evening, February 25, 2009, during their Class 5 District 1 game at Northwest High School.

"We did it a couple times earlier in the season where I got the ball right at the end," Marcus Harris said. "I like to get to the middle and try to make something happen. That's what happened, I just couldn't get it to go."

Central sophomore Andrew Williams said that after his team battled back from down five points early in the fourth quarter, he sensed the momentum had shifted and that if the game went to overtime, the Tigers would be able to pull away.

"On that last possession they had of regulation, we were just hoping we could get another chance in overtime," Williams said. "We knew once we got into overtime we'd start up again and we'd take it home."

The score was knotted 54-54 at the end of regulation.

The Indians had the ball to start overtime and passed it around for the first 1:43 before Marcus Harris put up an unsuccessful attempt.

Central's Blake Ozbun drives around Jackson's Kyle Keith during Wednesday's game.

"We wasted time at the beginning and then we just couldn't make anything," he said. "We just weren't going to force anything. We weren't going to take any bad shots. We were going to make them adjust to what we were doing and it just came down to them getting some breaks."

Josh Harris scored on Central's first possession to make it 56-54.

Jackson then failed to score on its next possession when Central fought to get a jump ball.

The big blow for Jackson came when Central's Rick Russell scored a basket and drew a foul with 1:28 left.

Russell converted his free throw to complete the three-point play that made it 59-54.

"They've got a big boy down there, so I had to go up strong," Russell said. "[We had] good passing and it was a real big win for us. I'm just real excited."

Jackson, down five points late, had to start fouling. But the Tigers were 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 54.3 seconds. Josh Harris, who acknowledged he had his best game of his high school career, went to the line twice during the stretch and made all four of his free throws.

"Josh Harris made a nice shot their first possession and then we came down the next time and when we didn't score, then we felt the pressure," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said.

Marcus Harris said that he felt momentum shift a bit and his team get a little tight when Central tied the score in the fourth quarter.

Central's Zach Boerboom, who has been playing off the bench over the past few games after starting much of the year, sparked the fourth-quarter comeback. He scored five straight points, including driving in for a three-point play to help his team tie the score 46-46.

He's been coming off the bench partly because he was sick recently and also because he said coach Drew Church has found a lineup that makes it better for him to come off the bench.

"It's a different role," he said. "You just come off and try to provide energy for the team. ... They [teammates] got me the ball in positions to score."

Central won the season series 2-1 after losing all five games against the Indians last year.

"In the first half, they didn't compete as hard as I thought they should," Church said. "In the second half and overtime, they did."

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Central1016121611--65

Jackson161611110--54

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:CENTRAL (65) -- Blake Ozbun 2, Andrew Williams 12, Josh Harris 24, Kevin Casasola 8, Rick Russell 14, Zach Boerboom 5. FG 22, FT 15-18, F 11. (3-pointers: Williams 2, Harris 2, Casasola 2. Fouled out: None)

JACKSON (54) -- Marcus Harris 11, Kyle Keith 12, Zach McDowell 14, Eli Gohn 6, Henrie Williams 8, Bobby Clark 3. FG 21, FT 3-8, F 17. (3-pointers: Keith 4, McDowell 4, Harris 1. Fouled out: Williams)