JACKSON GIRLS DEFEAT CAPE, REACH CHARLESTON FINAL

CHARLESTON -- The top two seeds, Jackson and Poplar Bluff, advanced to the championship game of the 19th Annual Charleston Girls' Invitational Tournament Thursday night with semifinal victories.

Top-seeded Jackson, ranked No. 2 in Missouri Class 4A, defeated long-time rival Cape Central, the fourth seed, 58-52.

Poplar Bluff, ranked No. 5 in 4A, handed a ??-?? loss to third-seeded Notre Dame, ranked No. 8 in 2A.

Jackson and Poplar Bluff will square of in Saturday's 7 p.m. championship game. Cape Central and Notre Dame will meet in the 5:30 p.m. third-place contest.

Against Cape Central, Jackson (18-1) broke open a close contest in the third quarter. The Lady Indians took a slim 23-21 lead into the second half and proceeded to outscore the Lady Tigers 18-8 in the third period for a 41-29 advantage.

"We played well," said Central coach Paula Watkins. "In the third quarter we struggled against their press and that's where we really lost the game, we felt.

"I was proud of girls. They stayed in there."

Central (13-6) outscored Jackson 22-17 in the fourth quarter but was unable to account for the 12-point gap.

Jackson's Christa Millham led all scorers with 19 points. Cherish Tillman added 12 points.

Katie Dougherty netted 16 points for Cape Central and Kim Aslinger tallied 12.

Scott City 65, Sikeston 27

SCOTT CITY -- Amy O'Brien burned Sikeston for 25 points and Becca Gowin scorched the Lady Bulldogs for 20 as Scott City rolled to victory.

Scott City (12-5) also received eight steals from Sarah Glenn and six rebounds from Alaina Smith.

Jennifer Hampton scored 12 points for Sikeston (4-14).

The Lady Rams bolted to a 20-2 lead in the first quarter and held a commanding 34-11 lead at halftime.

Perryville 62, St. Vincent 34

PERRYVILLE -- In an intra-town and Jefferson County battle, Perryville emerged victorious over St. Vincent.

Perryville (16-5) improved to a perfect 6-0 in conference action. St. Vincent (7-11) fell to 4-3.

April Watts, Renee Kaempfe and Amy Verseman all scored 13 points for Perryville and Laura Ernst netted 11.

Debbie Welker scored a game-high 16 points for St. Vincent. Teammate Fara Galati pulled down 12 rebounds.

Perryville outscored St. Vincent 19-9 in the second period and led 30-16 at halftime. The Lady Pirates extended their lead in the second half with a 32-17 scoring advantage.

Delta 46, Woodland 24

MARBLE HILL -- Delta outscored host Woodland in every quarter and posted a comfortable 22-point victory.

Erin Eftink led the way for Delta (13-5) with 13 points and teammate Amanda McDaniel tallied 12.

Julia Cutsinger scored nine points for Woodland (5-9).

Delta led 14-7 after one quarter and 23-13 at halftime. The Lady Bobcats took an insurmountable 35-15 lead into the fourth quarter.

Boys Basketball

Zalma Tournament

ZALMA -- Leopold broke open a fourth-quarter tie to defeat Zalma 55-52 Thursday night in the round-robin Zalma Tournament.

Adam Horrell, Brian Holzum and Donnie Landewee each netted 14 points for Leopold.

Tim Burchett scored a game-high 16 points for Zalma (3-14) while Ben Wallace added 12 and Gandy Wade finished with 10.

Zalma led 33-26 at halftime, but Leopold outscored Zalma 16-9 in the third quarter to tie the game at 42-42.

Marquand has beaten both Meadow Heights and Leopold and can win the title outright with a victory over Zalma tonight. The teams will meet at 8 p.m. Leopold and Meadow Heights will precede the game at 6:30.