Charleston romps into final

Charleston, after failing to reach the finals of the University High School Christmas Tournament the past two seasons despite being the No. 1 seed, appears to be a team on a mission this year.

The Bluejays, once again seeded first in the 57th annual event, moved into tonight's championship game by posting their third straight tourney rout, a 58-37 semifinal pasting of fourth-seeded Oran Friday night at the Show Me Center.

Charleston will take a 6-4 record into the 8:30 p.m. title contest against third-seeded Jackson. Oran (8-2) will face second-seeded Notre Dame in the third-place game at 7 p.m. tonight.

Danny Farmer, coach of perennial U-High powerhouse Charleston -- which has won a tourney record 13 championships -- minced no words when discussing his Bluejays' troubles in the tournament the past two years as they suffered upset losses in the semifinals both times.

"We talked about how embarrassing it's been the last two years," said Farmer. "I think they felt the same embarrassing feeling that I did.

"I think we've been a lot more focused this year after we talked about what's happened the last two years. We've really picked it up."

The Bluejays won their first two tourney contests by 41 and 29 points and it was more of the same Friday night against a game but overmatched Oran squad.

Charleston slapped its trademark defense on Oran -- something that Farmer felt might have been missing from the tournament in the last two years -- and the result was an eight-point first-half output by the Eagles as they trailed 27-8 at the intermission.

"Defense was the key," Farmer said. "We put pressure on them."

Said senior forward Jordy Mixon, who scored 20 points as he continued his stellar tournament, "We used the last two years as motivation. Coach told us we had to step our game up."

Added Mixon, who has 76 points in the three tourney games, "The difference this year is better defense."

Dontay Clark added 11 points for the Bluejays, seven coming in a decisive second quarter that basically decided the contest. Deshaundry Hamilton chipped in with 10 points.

Oran had no double-figure scorers. The Eagles were led by Ryne Wood and Patrick Friga with nine points apiece.

"You have to give it to Charleston. They really got after it and they're a good team," said Oran coach Mitch Wood. "I thought we played well defensively the first half, but eight points... you can't win too many games like that."

Both squads struggled offensively in the first quarter, which ended which Charleston on top 7-4.

But then came a second-quarter onslaught by the Bluejays, who outscored the Eagles 20-4 in the period to lead 27-8 at the intermission.

Seven consecutive Charleston points to begin the third quarter made it 34-8. To the Eagles' credit, they kept battling and pulled to within 40-22 entering the final period but they could never trim the deficit further. The Bluejays led 56-28 late when Farmer cleared his bench.

"We've been playing well lately and we've had a good tournament so far," said Farmer, whose squad last reached the championship game in 1998, when it won the title. "Hopefully we can keep it up, but we know the finals are going to be very tough."