HOLIDAY CLASSIC PROVIDED DRAMA

The HealthSouth Holiday Classic provided a little bit of everything.

Fans couldn't have asked for a more dynamic game in the championship as Poplar Bluff, after trailing most of the game, sealed a dramatic 56-50 win in the closing seconds.

The same goes for the semifinals when Poplar Bluff squeaked past Cape Central 66-64.

However, most of the tournament wasn't that dramatic. Six of the 16 games played were determined by 20 or more points. Only four games were decided by less than 10 points.

The best individual performances, in terms of scoring, were put forth by players from the Nos. 4 and 7 seeds.

Tiffany Perkins, a 5-10 guard for fourth-seeded Perryville, was easily the tournament's leading scorer. She hit one medium-range jumper after another and was able to drive baseline to put up 69 points throughout the tournament.

"I think she has become more aggressive," Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann said of the three-year varsity starter. "She has realized that someone needed to score so she took on that responsibility."

The next-leading scorer was Ashley Whitson, a 5-9 Scott County Central senior. Whitson, who was a relentless presence underneath the offensive boards, had a 25-point game against Scott City in the consolation semifinal on Thursday.

Both were voted to the HealthSouth Holiday Classic all-tournament team.

Of the 10 members of the all-tournament team, six were either from Cape Girardeau or Jackson.

The Lady Indians had three make the team: Melissa Palmer, a 5-foot-9 forward, 5-9 sophomore Andrea Koeper and 5-9 junior Cherish Tillman.

Palmer led Jackson in scoring over the tournament with 32 points overall. Tillman scored just six in the final game, largely due to foul trouble, but still finished with 30 points for the tournament. Koeper scored 27.

For Cape Central, 6-0 sophomore Katie Dougherty averaged 10 points a game over three games, including 15 points in the Lady Tigers' tough loss to Poplar Bluff.

Dionna Webb, a 5-7 junior guard, also made the team for the Lady Tigers with a 5-point scoring average over the three games.

Jill Huber scored 17 points overall and made the team as the only representative from Notre Dame.

Rounding out the rest of the all-tournament team were Erika Emmons and Emily Wyatt of Poplar Bluff.