JACKSON, POPLAR BLUFF REACH CHARLESTON FINAL

CHARLESTON -- Cape Girardeau Central High's girls basketball team, currently ranked seventh in the state in Class 4A, has had a good amount of success the past few years.

But lately, that success ends abruptly when the Lady Tigers meet Poplar Bluff.

Thursday night in a semifinal game at the Charleston Tournament, Poplar Bluff took advantage of a depleted Central team and won 74-52.

Last year Poplar Bluff ended Central's season in a district semifinal game and last Saturday in a regular season contest the Lady Mules beat Central 69-52.

Jackson held off Notre Dame 51-41 in the other semifinal game and Scott County Central beat host Charleston 63-57 in overtime in a consolation semifinal game. Jackson and Poplar Bluff will meet in Saturday's 9 p.m. final.

Central (15-4), the No. 2 seed, was without senior center Laura Lukens, who sprained an ankle in practice Monday and is expected to miss two weeks. Compounding that Central, which played with only seven players, lost Ashley Skinner when she reinjured a knee halfway through the first quarter. Skinner missed all of last season.

"The kids showed a lot of pride and gave a tremendous effort," said Central coach Paula Watkins. "We had to face a lot of adversity and they played their hearts out.

"The game was not as bad as the score. We were back within 10 points, but we had to foul."

Three players combined for 61 of Poplar Bluff's 74 points. Shuntae Johnson had 23 points, Holly Teague 21 and Amy Hendrix 17.

For Central, Nichole Thiele led all scorers with 25 points and Elizabeth Kunz had 10.

In the other semifinal game, Jackson's inside play was the difference.

Michele Millham had 20 points and Shannon Perry added 19.

"Our inside people made the difference," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. "We did a good job getting the ball into the post.

"Notre Dame played well; we had them down 17 or 18 points and they didn't quit."

Jackson, ranked third in the state in Class 4A, improved to 16-2, dropping Notre Dame to 12-7.

"We were happy to stay that close," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "The kids played hard."

For Notre Dame, Randi Senciboy had 12 points and Tracy Blattel added 11.

In the consolation semifinal game, Scott County Central, who had a big game from freshman Vontrice Blackmon (34 points), outscored Charleston 9-3 in the overtime.

Also for Central, freshman Lekeya Turner added 11 points. For Charleston, Shameka Suggs had 16 points, and Stacy Galmore and Emily Hobbs both added 13.

Scott City 70, Sikeston 18

SIKESTON -- Scott City's press bothered Sikeston early and the Lady Rams cruised to a win on the road Thursday.

Scott City (14-4) held Sikeston to four points in each of the first three quarters and six in the fourth.

The Lady Rams' Sara Emerson had another big game as she led all scorers with 25 points. Jennifer Miller added 16 and Tara Sanford had 11.

Perryville 68, St. Vincent 18

PERRYVILLE -- The battle for girls basketball supremacy in Perryville was all Perryville High.

Leading 28-13 at halftime, the Lady Pirates outscored their cross-town rival 22-2 in the third quarter and 18-4 in the fourth.

With the home win Perryville improved to 15-6.

Perryville's Dena Schumer led all scorers with 14 points, Cicely Guth and Renee Kaempfe both had 12 and Erin Blevins tallied 11. Fara Galati led St. Vincent with seven points.

Chaffee 34, Portageville 33, OT

CHAFFEE -- Kelly Glueck hit a free throw with six seconds remaining in overtime to lift Chaffee to victory.

Renee Vandeven paced Chaffee with 11 points while Glueck finished with 9.

Chaffee (8-9) carried a 14-11 lead into the second half, but saw Portageville rally to tie the game 20-20 by the start of the fourth quarter. Both teams scored 12 points in the final period to force overtime. The only scoring in overtime was three free throws -- two belonging to Chaffee.

Chaffee will host Dexter on Thursday.

Delta 55, Woodland 28

DELTA -- Jodi Below scorched the nets for 25 points as Delta defeated Woodland Thursday.

Amanda McDaniels added 14 points for Delta, which improved to 11-3.

Delta held a 19-14 lead at halftime and outscored Woodland 36-14 in the second half.

Scott City visits Delta on Monday.

Boys basketball

Jackson 59, Farmington 45

FARMINGTON -- Jackson broke open a one-point game with a strong third quarter to shake Farmington Thursday night.

Jackson improved to 13-8, recovering from a strange finish in a loss to Charleston Tuesday. The Blue Jays rallied from a four-point, third-quarter deficit with a 29-0 run.

"I thought the kids bounced back," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "We really played well the second half. We shot the ball well."

Jackson took a 23-22 lead into the second half and outscored Farmington 20-6 in the third quarter.

Jackson's Justin Keen hit on five 3-point attempts and finished with a game-high 17 points. Michael Gross added 11 points.

Travis Barron and John Boyd each netted 13 points for Farmington.

Jackson returns to action Tuesday when Cape Central visits.

Meadow Heights tourney

MEADOW HEIGHTS -- Zalma won its first game of the season against host Meadow Heights 63-57 Thursday in the round-robin Meadow Heights Tournament.

In the night's other game, St. Vincent beat Ste. Genevieve's JV 75-40.

"This is a big confidence builder for us," said Zalma coach John Martin, whose team improved to 1-14. "We were more patient in the second half and our press really hurt them."

The score was tied at 34-34 at halftime before Zalma outscored the hosts 20-9 in the third quarter.

For Zalma, Michael Wade had 17 points, Adam Wallace 15 and Terry Hendrix 13. Meadow Heights' Kevin Weaver led all scorers with 20 points, Avery Ennis had 13 and Jeremy Heine 12.

St. Vincent improved to 7-10 with its win over Ste. Genevieve's JV.

For the Indians, Brent DeWilde had 19 points, Jonathan Wengert 16 and Jason Cissell 10.

The win put St. Vincent in Saturday's 8 p.m. championship game against Marquand.