Jackson guns down Jennings to climb above .500 mark

The consensus opinion of most players and coaches at the Tiger Shootout is that they all relish the opportunity to play different competition.

Jackson (7-6) led off the seventh-annual Tiger Shootout against a young Jennings team out of St. Louis with a 69-51 victory.

The Indians, coming off a tough loss to Poplar Bluff Friday night, took a little while to get untracked before coasting to the win.

"I thought we showed a lot of character after a hard-fought game last night," said Jackson coach Mike Kiehne, "then competing and drawing away from them."

Kiehne, on the lure for his team to compete in the Tiger Shootout, said, "You get kind of a fresh start for the second half of the season. You know you've got the same old foes in the second half, so this is just somebody new to come in and compete against."

Tied at 14-14 after the first quarter, Jackson turned it up in the second stanza outscoring the Warriors 23-10.

Jennings (1-12) pulled into a tie at 21-21 before the Indians went on 16-3 run to take a 37-24 lead into halftime.

Seth McDowell, the Indians leading scorer with a game-high 24 points, said, "We were pretty tired, but we just fought through it and played as hard as we could."

Jackson cruised in the second-half, outscoring Jennings 32-27.

Jennings' coach Randy Carter, a Cape Girardeau native in his 16th season with the Class 3A Warriors, has enjoyed success in state playoffs.

Jennings has appeared in four final fours -- second in '93, third in '97 and fourth in '99 and '00 -- at the state tournament in Carter's tenure.

Said Carter, "It (Tiger Shootout) very much simulates a final-four situation. These trips, and playing people from different parts of the state, different styles, different officials are things that you're going to have to deal with in state tournament play.

"Our whole focus is on preparing our kids for state tournament play, whether it be this year, next year or the following year."

Junior guard Mark Stovall was the only Jennings' scorer in double figures with 17 points.

NEW MADRID 72

WHITFIELD 45

Defending Class 3A state champion New Madrid County Central (9-1) appeared to be hitting on all cylinders in drubbing Whitfield.

Whitfield (7-5), a Class 2A school from the St. Louis area, was minus one of its better players. Six-foot-nine Dan Oppland, who has committed to Valparaiso, along with twin brother Mike, was on the bench with a bout of mononucleosis.

But Whitfield coach Frank Johnson, said, "Sure, we missed him on the boards. He's a rugged-rebounder type, but I'm not going to say he would have made up a 30-point difference."

Led by powerful point guard Dereke Tipler, New Madrid forged a 31-21 first-half lead, then, virtually closed the deal with a 26-10 third-quarter romp.

Tipler created the play of the day in the fourth quarter as he drove the lane, juked a defender and lopped a perfect alley-oop pass to 6-2 Brian Murph, coming off the baseline, for a rim-rattling slam dunk.

Tipler, an all-stater in football and basketball, said, "I have good hang time and I just pause in the air sometimes and then when they jump out at me, our post players are wide open under the basket and I dish it."