CENTRAL WRESTLERS TAKE 2ND AT DE SOTO

DE SOTO -- The Cape Central wrestling team took second place in the De Soto tournament Saturday and had five individuals take first place in the nine-team event.

Central's Hoss Hodges (103), Kevin Allen (119), Otis Turner (171), Matt Strickland (189) and Alex Elfrink (215) each took first place.

Keith Benton finished second at 112 pounds and Craig Knoth was a runner-up at heavyweight.

Jamell Austin (152) and Shannon Mungle (160) both took third and Darren Harris finished fourth at 125.

Central coach Drew Lilledahl was pleased with the effort, especially considering the Tigers had to forfeit at 140 because Josh Goodrich -- who was a No. 1 seed -- was sick.

"It was a good tournament all around to get ready and hone in our skills for next week in the district tournament," Lilledahl said. "I have a good feeling if (Goodrich) had been there, we would've won the team championship."

Boys Swimming

Springfield Invitational

SPRINGFIELD -- The Cape Central swimming team took fourth place among 15 teams in the Springfield Invitational Saturday with 164 points.

Jason Owen set a new pool and tournament record in the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.46. He also took first in the 500 freestyle (4:47.70) and helped the 200 medley relay team -- which consisted of swimmers Ben Roeger, Zach Roberts and Eric Young -- to a second-place finish of 144.47.

Eric Yount also took first place in two individual events -- the 50 freestyle (:22.38) and the 100 freestyle (:50.24).

Roberts finished third in the 100 butterfly with a state-qualifying time of :57.97.

Roeger was the runner-up in the 100 backstroke with a time of :58.7. He also took fourth in the 200 freestyle at 1:57.19.

Central's 400 freestyle relay team took second place at 3:27.17.

Nathan Skinner finished in 10th place in the 500 freestyle.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Perryville 76, St. Vincent 54

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville led by just four points with about four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but went on a vicious run to bury its cross-town rival Saturday.

Tyler Abernathy scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures for the Pirates. Ryan Wischern added 14, Michael Downen provided 13, Joe Heuring supplied 12 and Ryan Verseman poured in 11.

Ryan Prost scored 17 points and was the only player in double figures for the Indians (8-5).

Perryville led 25-22 at halftime and 43-39 going into the fourth quarter.

Girls basketball

Cape Central 36, Nerinx Hall 30

Dionna Webb scored all 11 of her points in the second half and led the Lady Tigers to a win over visiting Nerinx Hall Saturday.

"I told her we needed her to get more involved in the second half, and she did," said Central coach Darrick Smith.

Kim Aslinger scored a team-high 12 points for the Lady Tigers, who improved to 13-4 for the season.

Nerinx Hall dropped to 12-7.

Central led 14-13 at halftime and 26-21 heading into the fourth quarter.

Jackson 74, St. Joseph's Academy 63

ST. LOUIS -- Jackson played its second game Friday night since receiving the top ranking in Class 4A, and it proved to be a quite a test.

Jackson (12-1) trailed St. Joseph's Academy by 13 late in third quarter before picking up its full-court pressure and outscoring the hosts 23-7 in the fourth quarter for the victory.

"I was very proud of my girls," Jackson coach Ron Cook said. "They worked hard to get us back up and to win. It was one of the better games for us this year."

Andrea Koeper led Jackson with 17 points, Melissa Palmer had 16 and Chrissi Glastetter and Cherish Tillman both had 14.

Junior High Basketball

JACKSON -- Jackson's boys took first place in the Jackson ninth-grade basketball tournament when Charleston forfeited by walking off the court in the first half of the championship game with the score 20-8.

In the third-place game of the tournament, Cape Central edged Farmington 62-58.

In eighth-grade action, Jackson took first place by knocking off Charleston 51-37.

Sikeston took third place over Cape Central with a 54-38 victory. Darrell Porter netted 10 points to lead Central (3-9).

Cape Central took third place in the ninth-grade tournament with a 62-58 victory over Farmington.

Junior High Wrestling

Jackson defended its crown in the Freshman-Sophomore Tournament held Saturday at Jackson High School.

Jackson won the nine-school meet with 206.5 points while Cape Central placed fifth with 60.

Local champions were: Pierre Fairfax (103, Cape Central), Josh Lang (140, Jackson), James Love (140, Jackson), Seth Harrell (160, Jackson) and Gabe Koehler (171, Jackson).

SEMO Conference results

1. Jackson 206.5, 2. Farmington 186, 3. Sikeston 104, 4. Ste. Genevieve 92, 5. Cape Central 60, 6. Poplar Bluff 40, 7. (tie) Dexter 31, 7. Park Hills 31, 9. Potosi 16

103 - 1. Pierre Fairfax, Cape Central; 3. J.P. Sides, Jackson

112 - 2. Michael Taylor, Jackson; 3. Paul Miller, Cape Cenbtral

119 - 2. Ryan McClard, Jackson; 3. Clint Hoffman, Cape Central

130 - 2. Drew Howard, Jackson

135 - 2. Justin Rice, Jackson

140 - 1. Josh Lang, Jackson

145 - 1. James Love, Jackson

152 - 3. Ken Calloway, Cape Central; 4. Josh Hervis, Jackson

160 - 1. Seth Harrell, Jackson, 4. Justin Cain, Cape Central

171 - 1. Gabe Koehler, Jackson

189 - 2. Brad Biri, Jackson

215 - 2. Peter Ressler, Jackson

HWT - 3. Luke Wade, Jackson