Charleston chokes Advance's offense

Advance appeared to be in solid shape midway through the second quarter Monday night.

Then Charleston dialed up its defensive pressure and started crashing the boards with more ferocity.

The result was a game-changing 10-0 run that propelled the Bluejays to a 63-43 romp in the quarterfinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

Fourth-seeded Charleston moved into tonight's semifinal against defending champion Scott County Central, the No. 1 seed. Fifth-seeded Advance will play No. 8 Oran in a fifth-place semifinal.

"I thought we played great. We played hard," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. "Advance has a very good team and they play smart.

"I was very concerned, but we were ready to play."

The first 1 1/2 quarters featured seven lead changes and four ties. Advance (6-2) held the game's biggest advantages, a pair of five-point margins.

It was 21-21 when the Bluejays (5-5) turned things in their favor.

A flurry of steals led to six straight Charleston points, which led to a technical foul on Advance coach Josh Dowdy with 2 minutes, 2 seconds left in the second period.

Senior Deonte Jones hit both free throws on the technical, then nailed a 15-foot jumper on the ensuing possession. All of a sudden the Bluejays led 31-21.

Advance never recovered as Charleston closed the half on a 16-2 burst to lead 37-23 at the break.

"We came out and did what we had to do," Jones said. "We noticed they weren't any team to play with.

"We had to crash the boards, play defense and get the 'W.'"

Advance scored the first four points of the third quarter to make it 37-27 but got no closer. Charleston built a 52-35 cushion entering the final period and coasted down the stretch.

"We play a lot of people and I feel we wear them down," Farmer said. "I feel it happened tonight."

Dowdy heaped praise on Charleston but also was disappointed that his team did not stand up better to the Bluejays' relentless pressure.

"My goal is to get this program to where we're not fearful of Charleston, Notre Dame, the bigger schools," Dowdy said. "We played scared tonight. We didn't handle the pressure.

"Give Charleston credit. We had a chance to assert ourselves, but we just never did it. We let them get happy and they started knocking some shots down."

Jones led Charleston with 17 points. Sophomore Demonte Farmer added 11 points and senior Fabreizio Wright contributed 10.

Advance got a game-high 20 points from senior Luke Steil. Junior Darren VanGennip had 11 points.

Now Charleston will face the monumental task of taking on powerful Scott County Central in the semifinals.

The Braves have looked nearly invincible so far during the tournament and the Bluejays know what they're up against.

"They have a great team," coach Farmer said. "We're just happy to have won two [games in the tournament so far]. We're a young team. ... It'll be a learning experience."

Said Jones: "They're a tough team to beat. We have to handle their pressure and knock down some shots. We're looking forward to playing them."

Advance 9 14 12 8 -- 43

Charleston 7 30 15 11 -- 63

ADVANCE (43) -- Luke Steil 20, Grant Gray 6, Matt Ware 1, Darren VanGennip 11, John Middleton 2, Dylan Dunivan 3. FG 13, FT 17-30, F 19. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: Brad Steil)

CHARLESTON (63) -- Demonte Farmer 11, Maurice Moore 2, Ryan Parham 6, Aaron Cassell 3, Greg Tucker 9, Jamaul Gray 2, Deonte Jones 17, Trey Watkins 1, Tobias Townsend 1, Fabreizio Wright 10, Krushon Scott 1. FG 25, FT 8-18, F 25. (3-pointers: Farmer 2, Tucker 1, Jones 2. Fouled out: Moore)