CENTRAL SQUADS PREVAIL IN OWN TIGER SHOOTOUT

The first three games of the second annual Tiger Shootout looked reminiscent of the first round of the University High Christmas Tournament: a 28-point blow out gave way to a 33-point romp which was followed by a 40-point slaughter.

Fans finally got to see a competitive game in the final contest of the day between host Cape Girardeau Central High's boys and St. Louis University High.

Central, one of the hottest teams in the area, held off a late rally by the Junior Billikens and won 60-52.

In the other games Saturday, Cape Central's girls beat Carbondale, Ill., 77-49, Carbondale's boys topped Notre Dame 75-42 and DeSmet's boys overwhelmed Jackson 74-34.

Cape Central boys 60, SLUH 52

Cape Central played well in the first half and held off a late surge by SLUH to win its 11th game in its last 12 tries. The Tigers never trailed.

Central (12-3) led 36-23 at halftime and led by as many as 16 points early in the second half. SLUH (6-10) cut the lead to five, 55-50, with 1:55 left in the game, but came no closer.

"I was very pleased," said Central coach Brett Reutzel. "I would like to have seen us sustain or go ahead and double (our first-half lead), but that's not going to happen against good teams all of the time.

"We played really hard in the first half and were exciting to watch."

Central's catalyst in the first half was Nathan Owen, one of three players in the Shootout who has signed with an NCAA Division I team. The others are Carbondale's Joshua Cross (Southern Illinois) and DeSmet's Matt Baniak (St. Louis). Owen signed with Southeast Missouri State University.

Owen scored 11 of his game-high 28 points in the first quarter. Owen hit seven 3-pointers.

"Owen hurt us in the first half," said SLUH coach Don Maurer, a Cape Girardeau native and a former coach at Notre Dame. "He's a good player. A good player makes things happen and he did that for them."

Owen was Central's only player in double figures. For SLUH, Jim Vreeland had 17 points, Phil Paspalas 14 and Charlie Ries 13.

Cape Central girls 77, Carbondale 49

Cape Central jumped out to a 29-10 lead in the first quarter and ran away with the game. Central led 53-23 at halftime.

The Lady Tigers (9-2) had a balanced scoring attack as four players reached double figures. Abby Harris had 17 points, Nichole Thiele 15, Laura Lukens 13 and Elizabeth Kunz 10. All 10 Lady Tigers scored.

"We came out aggressive and played a good ball game," said Central coach Paula Watkins.

Carbondale was led by Aarosheika Thornton's 18 points.

Carbondale boys 75, Notre Dame 42

Notre Dame, without leading scorer and rebounder Dirk Dirnberger, continued to struggle as Carbondale amassed a 24-9 lead in the first quarter and cruised from there.

Carbondale improved to 7-5, dropping Notre Dame to 5-7.

The Terriers won easily despite its star, Cross, scoring only four points. Cross was saddled with foul trouble.

Carbondale's Jewel Biggs led all scorers with 16 points, Hector Flores added 12, Lawrence Elugbadebo 11 and Alfred Campbell 10. The Terriers hit 11 3-pointers.

Nathan McGuire was Notre Dame's only double-digit scorer with 14 points.

DeSmet 74, Jackson 34

DeSmet, No. 3 in the state in Class 4A and ranked No. 1 in the St. Louis area by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, dominated Jackson in all facets.

The Spartans led 21-6 after one quarter and 59-20 entering the fourth period.

DeSmet improved to 13-1 and Jackson dropped to 11-5. The Spartans led the entire game.

With DeSmet's 6-foot-9 Baniak occupying the middle, Jackson didn't take the ball inside much and the Indians' perimeter shooting never got hot.

The game was tied 4-4 with 6:15 left in the first quarter. DeSmet then went on a 17-2 run.

Baniak scored 14 points and had four dunks. Also for DeSmet, Adam Lohse had 15 points and Mike Fleming added 14. Jackson's lone double-digit scorer was Justin Keen with 12 points.