HEALTHSOUTH TOURNEY SHOWS RARE PARITY IN CAPE COUNTY

Poplar Bluff left little doubt that it is the best basketball team in this region of the state by wrapping up its third consecutive HealthSouth Championship on Wednesday.

The Lady Mules, after getting a first-round bye, beat Notre Dame 53-37 in the semifinals, then defeated Cape Central 51-37.

Poplar Bluff, which used its deep bench and tight defense to roll through the tournament, is ranked sixth in Class 4A.

* If the tournament proved anything, it was that the Cape Girardeau County girls basketball teams are about as equal as they can be.

Cape Central beat Jackson 60-57 in overtime and Notre Dame beat Jackson 58-54.

Jackson suffered its second and third losses in the tournament and fell to 3-3.

Last year, Jackson went 23-2 and the Lady Indians have lost just 12 games over the last five years.

Though the Lady Indians may not be the power that they've been in years past, they did nothing to embarrass themselves in the HealthSouth Classic.

They lost two games by a total of just seven points, including one game which went into overtime, despite starting two freshmen.

Jackson's Andrea Koeper scored a tournament-high 54 points, while her teammate Cherish Tillman scored 53.

* Massac County's Melissa Lillie had the most eye-popping performances of the tournament.

Lillie established a new HealthSouth record by making 13 3-pointers. What's amazing, is that she did it in two games instead of three. She made six of her seven 3-point attempts on Monday night in a loss to Notre Dame, then made seven of nine in a consolation championship win over Perryville. She made five 3-pointers in the first quarter alone in that game. Lillie, however, was rather one-dimensional, making just one 2-point field goal in two games despite scoring 41 points.

• Despite his team's loss in the tournament championship game, Central coach Darrick Smith was fairly happy how his team played in the tournament.

He said his team just needed to be more assertive offensively.

"We passed up some shots we should've taken," said Smith, whose team stands at 8-2. "Sometimes the passes we made put us in worse positions for shots than the one we just had when we passed it.

"We'll get after it and be better in the second half of the season."

* Smith said center Heather Jenkins was cleared by her doctor to play in the HealthSouth Classic, but Jenkins, who injured her knee in the second game of the season, hadn't practiced since then. Smith didn't want to take any chances with her, but she will be back when the Lady Tigers play host to Farmington on Jan. 4..

* Notre Dame certainly performed well in the tournament, taking third place.

The Lady Bulldogs dominated a larger Massac County team which featured Lillie, the best shooter in the seven-team field.

Starting three sophomores and a freshman, Notre Dame -- a Class 2A school -- also beat Jackson for the first time in two years.

Notre Dame (8-2) had troubles handling Poplar Bluff's pressure, but the Lady Bulldogs were at a disadvantage having played a tough opponent the night before while Poplar Bluff hadn't played in a week. And Notre Dame was not at full strength, either as Michelle Hency, the team's starting two-guard, missed the tournament with an injury. Freshman Ashley Millham, though, filled in nicely.

* Jackson, Cape Central, Poplar Bluff and Notre Dame hogged the all-tournament team awards. Lillie was the only player not from those four schools to be named to the team. Cape Central got three players __ Dionna Webb, Katie Dougherty and Sara Hyslop -- while Jackson, Notre Dame and Poplar Bluff each got two. Scott County Central's Vontrice Blackmon didn't make the team despite scoring 25 points in one game and 11 in the other. Amanda Schumer from Perryville scored 23 in a game and averaged 14 points in three games, but didn't make the team either.