CHARLESTON ROLLS PAST WEST PLAINS, ENTERS BREAK AT 6-1

CHARLESTON -- The Charleston Blue Jays defeated West Plains Saturday to take a 6-1 record into the Christmas break.

Howard Biles led three Blue Jays in double figures with 18 points. Clintrus Clark followed with 17 points and Larico Coleman tallied 14.

With the game tied 15-15 after one quarter, Charleston outscored West Plains 21-9 in the second period. The Blue Jays added 10 more points to the lead in the third period, taking a commanding 54-33 lead into the final eight minutes.

Charleston returns to action Friday when it plays Leopold in the first round of the University High Christmas Tournament. The Blue Jays will be the top seed in the 16-team field.

Jackson 58, Kennett 49

KENNETT -- In a game from late Friday night, Jackson High's boys basketball team jumped out to a big early lead and coasted to victory over host Kennett.

The Indians (4-2) jumped ahead 17-8 after one quarter and led 36-23 at halftime.

"We played well early and got a pretty good lead, then we played sporadically," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "But we played a little better defensively than we had been."

Jeff Walter led the Indians with 14 points while Justin Keen added 12.

Girls' Basketball

Visitation 69, Perryville 59

ST. LOUIS -- Renee Kaempfe scored 31 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for Perryville, but the Lady Pirates still were not able to defeat Visitation in the first round of the Visitation Tournament.

April Watts added 17 points for ninth-seeded Perryville (6-4), but no other Lady Pirate scored more than five points.

Visitation, seeded eighth, led 12-11 after one period and 27-23 at halftime. Visitation took a 49-42 lead into the fourth quarter.

Boys' Swimming

DeSmet 94, Cape Central 92

Cape Central won all but four events, but saw DeSmet escape with a narrow victory for the second straight season.

Central's Jason Owen and Eric Yount both remained undefeated in individual events this season. Owen won the 200 and 500 freestyle races while Yount was victorious in the 50 and 100 freestyles.

"We had some great individual efforts from everybody, but we just didn't have enough depth," said Cape Central coach Dayna Powell.

Cape Central (3-2), which fell by a point to DeSmet last year, took a one-point lead into the final event, the 400 relay, on Saturday. DeSmet won the event by a half second, but the Tigers made things interesting as Owen nearly closed a four-second gap in the final leg.

Also winning in individual events for the Tigers were Ben Roeger in the 100 backstroke and Nick Sterrett in diving. Central also picked up victories in the medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.

Central returns to action Jan. 6 at Fort Zumwalt South.

DeSmet 94, Central 92

Medley Relay -- 1. 1:50.52 (Ben Roeger, Jamie Higgins, Zach Roberts, Eric Yount)

200 freestyle -- 1. Jason Owen 1:46.67

200 IM -- 2. Ben Roeger 2:17.79

50 freestyle -- 1. Eric Yount 22.91, 3. Rob Tygett 25.59

Diving - 1. Nick Sterrett 201.20, 3. Ben Chisman 140

100 butterfly -- 3. Zach Roberts 1:06.67

100 freestyle -- 1. Yount 51:08, 2. Jamie Higgins 54.31

500 freestyle -- 1. Owen 4:48.49

200 freestyle relay -- 1. 1:38.12 (Owen, Yount, David Stahr, Nathan Skinner), 3. 1:47.41 (Matt Hqwkins, Sam Fletcher, Andrew Skinner, Rob Tygett)

100 backstroke -- 1. Roeger 59.35

100 breaststroke -- 2. Higgins 1:08.44, 3. Zach Roberts 1:13.49

400 freestyle relay -- 2. 3:44.73 (N.Skinner, Higgins, Roeger, Owen)