Charleston looks like a top seed in triumph

Charleston backed up its top seed in the seMissourian Christmas Tournament, winning its opening-round game 86-44 over No. 16 Chaffee on Thursday.

Despite the 9 a.m. start, Charleston looked wide awake early and took a 21-7 edge after the first quarter.

"The nine o'clock game is tough to get up for," said assistant coach Jimmy Lincoln, filling in for head coach Danny Farmer. Farmer served a one-game suspension after being ejected from Charleston's game against Caruthersville on Friday night.

"Overall they played well as a team, they passed the ball well and even started playing a little defense in the second half," Lincoln said.

With the score at 33-18 in the second quarter, Chaffee coach David Mirly called a timeout with 2:02 left to play in the half to gather his team for a late first-half surge.

The only surge came from Charleston, which scored four of the last five points and went into the locker room up 37-19.

The stretch continued into the second half when Charleston went on an 8-0 run, spurred by Joshua Strayhorn's six consecutive points.

Strayhorn led the Bluejays with 16 points. Sophomore Ashton Farmer, junior A.H. Marshall and senior Deshaundry Hamilton all added 12.

Chaffee was led by Tyler Grahm's 11 points. James Reischman and Sam Burnett contributed 10 points apiece.

Chaffee controlled the free throw line, going 17-of-25.

Oran 64, Scott Co. Central 59

It's been a rollercoaster ride of a season for coach Melvin Porter and Scott County Central -- the first round of the seMissourian Christmas Tournament was no different.

The fifth-seeded Oran Eagles came out hot in the first quarter and hit the first four shots from behind the 3-point arc. But after a back-and-forth first half, the Eagles and Braves found themselves deadlocked at 30 at the half.

"Offensively we were stale. We didn't attack very well," Oran coach Mitch Wood said.

Oran went on a 14-0 run to begin the second half and began pulling away. Newly eligible Dujuan Watkins picked up three cheap fouls and fouled out with almost three and a half minutes to play in the third.

The Braves battled back and cut the defcit to nine by the start of the fourth quarter.

"Its really hard to figure out this group of kids. They play well and give effort when they're down but they should be playing hard from the start," Porter said.

The Braves used seven fourth-quarter points from Jeremy Johnson and four from Chris Monroe to pull even closer to the Eagles.

Ryne Wood led the Eagles with 19 points. Nathan Seyer scored 15. Chris Pullen was the leading scorer for the Braves with 15.

Scott City 72, Meadow Heights 61

Scott City hit 12-of-13 free throws in the fourth quarter, and used a big three-pointer from Chris Bradshaw with 1:50 left to play to slip past No. 11 Meadow Heights in the first round of the seMissourian Christmas Tournament.

In what was likely the most contested game of the first round, Scott City (6-0) used a 20-point performance by 6-foot-8 center Tyler Ward to top the upstart Panthers (5-2).

Junior guard Jeremy Schlosser, who hit several key baskets down the stretch, said some of the Rams may have overlooked Meadow Heights.

"I think a lot of people out there thought it would be easy," he said. "It was a good test."

After a back-and-forth first quarter that saw Scott City build a 19-17 lead, the Rams looked like they would pull away. The Panthers missed their first nine shots of the second quarter, and saw the Rams score the first 10 points of the quarter to build a 12-point lead.

The Panthers did not fold though, and behind the shooting of Chris Burr Meadow Heights cut the lead to 35-28 by halftime. Burr scored 10 straight points for Meadow Heights, and finished the half with 17 of his 19 points.

Scott City coach Kerry Thompson said his team got away from its game plan.

"We kind of got caught up in their style of play," he said.

Josh Fulton scored seven quick points to start the fourth quarter for the Panthers to give them their first lead since the first quarter at 51-50. The Rams didn't panic and worked the ball to Ward down low; he converted on a three-point play to put Scott City back up.

Joey Bell would tie the score for Meadow Heights two more times, but in the end the Panthers could not keep hitting their shots and the Rams put them away from the line.

D.J. Walton tied Ward for the Rams in scoring with 20. Schlosser finished with 16 for the Rams. Bell finished with 19 points for the Panthers, and Fulton finished with 12.

Kelly 68, Advance 60

Jim Hall came up short in his quest for 500 wins, and more importantly his team finds itself in the consolation bracket of the seMissourian Christmas Tournament with a loss to No. 9 Kelly.

The Hawks (4-3) used a solid shooting night combined with good ball control to keep the Hornets (3-3) at bay. Major Burger led Kelly in scoring with 25 points.

Advance led by two after the first quarter, but Kelly took a 34-26 lead into halftime. The Hawks did not let up and extended their lead to 16 midway through the third quarter.

Jason Bahr led Advance in scoring with 15 points, and Zach Hudson had 14. Hudson struggled from the line though, missing all eight of his attempts. The Hornets overall went 11-of-27 from the line. Advance's top scorer Jared Ritter was held to 10 points.

Lance Scheffer added 17 points for Kelly, and Chirs Romas had 14.

-- JeremyJoffray, DavidUnterreiner,DavidWilson