Familier foes Jackson, Central face off in Class 5

Fours are wild at the Class 5 District 1 tournament at Poplar Bluff.

On the boys side, No. 2 Jackson (22-3) will face No. 3 Central (12-14) for the fourth time this season, with the Indians possessing three wins so far.

"Three times in a season is a lot, so four times is quite a bit," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "We should definitely know each other by now."

Jackson's girls will have to perform a similar first round feat, facing Farmington for the fourth time this season. The second-seeded Indians have defeated No. 3 Farmington all three times this season.

This will be the second straight season Jackson and Central's boys teams have met in the first round. Last season saw a Jackson team playing without star Tyler McNeely get by a Central squad missing four of its top six players.

For Tuesday night's meeting, both squads appear to come into the game at full strength. After the Indians basically controlled the play in the first two meetings this season, Central stuck with Jackson at Jackson in the last meeting and lost on a last-second shot, 55-53.

"When they have all five guys, they're pretty good," Scott said of the Tigers.

The Indians are led by senior Jack Puisis. Puisis is averaging about 21 points a game. Along with Puisis, 6-foot-7 senior Ryan Mirly has been Jackson's other consistent scorer, averaging in double figures throughout the season.

"I think they're playing with a lot of confidence and doing a lot of good things," Scott said of his two top scorers.

Central's top performer, senior Eli Harris, had to leave the game in the third quarter of the last meeting between the two teams. Harris had 16 points when he left the game, and has been putting up strong numbers since that meeting. Harris has averaged 18.5 points over Central's last four games.

The Tigers will also have to rely on the post play of junior Anthony Hempstead and sophomore Darnell Wilks, Central's tallest player at 6-6. Hempstead and Wilks are each capable of putting up big numbers when on.

The Tigers are coming off an impressive 72-70 win over state-ranked Dexter in their season finale.

"They'll be the heavy favorites, but we're used to playing heavy favorites," Central coach Derek McCord said. "I think our kids will come in prepared. I think it will be a good ballgame."

Jackson is 6-0 versus rival Central over the past two seasons.

"We're going to have to play well and play how we're capable," Scott said. "But we feel if we execute and do the things we're capable of we have a good chance to win."

Jackson girls try to defeat Farmington again

Jackson's girls face a similar task to that of the Indians' boys team, facing a strong Farmington squad for a fourth time at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The Indians enjoyed their largest win over Farmington just last week in a 54-40 win at Farmington.

Indians coach Sam Sides said his team cannot get complacent just because they have defeated Farmington (20-5) already this season.

"You never know. Your success in the past does not dictate what you do in the future," he said.

Jackson's success this season has come with the help of a young squad featuring just one senior. While even Sides did not exactly know what to expect from his squad, a 22-3 record has put to rest any doubts about his team's ability. Junior Bobbie Jones leads a balanced squad that spreads its production across the board.

"We've won a lot of close ball games," Sides said. "Saturday was the only close ball game we lost all year. You look at us and we're not going to scare you with our size or quickness, but we work well together."

The Indians would likely face Poplar Bluff in the district finals with a win tonight. Poplar Bluff defeated Jackson in the district finals last year, and the two teams split the two-game season series this year.

"If we play well, we can play with anyone in our district," Sides said.

In the other semifinal Central (5-14) will try to pull off a major upset against No. 1 Poplar Bluff (19-5) with a 6 p.m. matchup tonight. The Tigers have struggled once again this season, but did play one of their best games in a win over Perryville in their season finale.