Jackson boys win SEMO Conference crown outright

The Jackson boys basketball team collected its 20th win of the season against Kennett on Friday night, which guaranteed the Indians a share of the SEMO Conference regular-season title.

Combine the win with Charleston's loss to Poplar Bluff and the Indians had the title all to themselves to go along with their conference tournament championship.

"I think it's huge for our program and our kids," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "Last time we won the conference we were co-champs, I think with Sikeston in 2008. To win it outright is huge because in the SEMO Conference there are a lot of Sikeston and Charleston champions, and [not] many other people -- other than Poplar Bluff when the Hansbroughs were playing. That's huge for us to have a chance to win it, and I'm really proud of our kids and our program."

Jackson (20-5, 7-1 SEMO) scored the first nine points of the game -- six of those coming from junior Blake Reynolds -- and took a 19-8 lead with 42 seconds left in the opening period on Conor Sheppard's free throws.

The Indians (14-9, 2-5) went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 19-15 on Antavies Drake's bucket with 5:27 left in the first half.

However, Jackson responded by closing the half on a 17-4 run to take a 36-19 advantage to the locker room and led by at least 15 points the entire second half.

Reynolds led all scorers with 22 points, while Karson King added 14 for Jackson.

"I felt like we did a good job of getting it to our bigs," Scott said. "I thought our length in our zone bothered them some, so we were able to force a lot of contested shots and then get rebounds."

Kennett 10 9 9 14 -- 42

Jackson 19 17 17 10 -- 63

KENNETT (42) -- Rantrell Caruthers 12, Materion Jones 10, Andre Oliver 9, Jad Kenny 6, Antavies Drake 4, Landon Vaughan 1. FG 17, FT 6-8. (3-pointers: Caruthers 1, Oliver 1.)

JACKSON (63) -- Blake Reynolds 22, Karson King 14, Connor Sheppard 8, Brandon Lueders 4, Terry Venable 4, Josh Daume 3, Braden Wendel 3, Calvin Lysell 3, Josh Friess 2. FG 26, FT 7-10. (3-pointers: Daume 1, King 1, Reynolds 1, Wendel 1. Fouled out: None.)

Leopold 83, Delta 23

Austin Bucher nailed a game-high 26 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Wildcats dominated and wrapped up the regular season in a rout of the Bobcats at home.

Cameron Davis recorded 22 points and six steals for Leopold (19-3), while Zach Beel tallied 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Wesley Stoverink added 11 points, 10 rebounds and five steals for the Wildcats.

Delta's Jesse Nance had six points to pace the Bobcats, who ended the regular season without a win at 0-20.

Delta 9 5 7 2 -- 23

Leopold 20 39 17 7 -- 83

DELTA (23) -- Brandon Gaebler 1, Trever Glaus 4, Charlie Ledbetter 2, Jesse Nance 6, Alex Lashley 4, Austin White 5, Tristin Perry 1. FG 10, FT 3-13, F 10. (3-pointers: None. Fouled out: None.)

LEOPOLD (83) -- Parker Brown 5, Austin Bucher 26, Dillan Vandeven 2, Zach Elfrink 2, Cameron Davis 22, Zach Beel 15, Wesley Stoverink 11. FG 25, FT 6-13, F 13. (3-pointers: Bucher 5, Davis 2, Brown 1, Stoverink 1. Fouled out: None.)

JV -- Leopold 24, Delta 21

St. Vincent 60, Grandview 43

Trevor Leible sank 18 points and snagged 18 rebounds to lead the Indians to their fourth consecutive victory all in one week as the Indians finished the regular season with a conference win on the road in Hillsboro, Mo.

Nathan Carroll recorded 18 points and six assists for St. Vincent, which closed the regular season at 7-16. Kevin Mattingly added 15 points and Alex Winkler grabbed 10 rebounds for the Indians.

Grandview's Brett Kleeschulte led with 15 points while Tyler Billingsley and Edin Kurtovic bucketed 10 points apiece for the Eagles (3-20).

St. Vincent 15 11 13 21 -- 60

Grandview 13 6 7 17 -- 43

ST. VINCENT (60) -- Trevor Leible 18, Nathan Carroll 18, Kaleb Schnurbusch 3, Kevin Mattingly 15, Alex Winkler 4, Jordan Buchheit 2. FG 16, FT 22-30, F 12. (3-pointers: Carroll 2. Fouled out: None.)

GRANDVIEW (HILLSBORO) (43) -- Tyler Billingsley 10, Sam Huskey 2, Scottie Rodgers 3, Edin Kurtovic 10, Kyler Meier 3, Brett Kleeschulte 15. FG 11, FT 6-8, F 22. (3-pointers: Billingsley 2, Kurtovic 2, Meier 1. Fouled out: Huskey, Kurtovic.)

JV -- St. Vincent 50, Grandview 18

Central 64, Lutheran South 46

Andre Statam busted a game-high 21 points as the Tigers picked up a win against the Lancers on the road in the suburban St. Louis area.

Jamal Cox netted 20 points and Andre Statam tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds for Central (12-10).

Lezoghia Meneh finished with 12 points to pace Lutheran South (11-12).

Cape Central 18 16 14 16 -- 64

Lutheran South 17 15 13 1 -- 46

CAPE CENTRAL (64) -- Al Young 21, Jalen Reddin 2, Jamal Cox 20, Chase Haggerty 2, Andre Statam 17, Garrett Jackson 2. FG 17, FT 21-29, F 13. (3-pointers: Young 2, Statam 1. Fouled out: None.)

LUTHERAN SOUTH (46) -- Dirk Otterstein 1, Trey Martin 7, Danny Strohm 6, Lezoghia Meneh 12, Avery Hohenstein 2, Will Bubenik 6, Angelo Ceko 4, Parker Van Nest 4. FG 13, FT 5-12, F 20. (3-pointers: Strohm 2, Martin 1, Meneh 1, Van Nest 1. Fouled out: None.)

Daily Dunklin Democrat reporter Mike Buhler contributed to this report.