Jackson wrestlers continue strong year

Jackson had two first-place finishers and placed second overall out of 12 teams at the two-day Marquette Wrestling Tournament in St. Louis County, which concluded Saturday.

Justin Miller (119 pounds) and Cody Rouse (152) took home first-place finishes for the Indians. Rouse is still undefeated on the season. Sean Gant (140) and Kamden Rampley (189) finished second, and Jamie Schumacher (112) and Andy Glass (215) finished third. Jordan Barnhart placed fourth in the 145-pound division, and Luke Rayburn (103) and Ben McMillian (135) came in fifth.

"It was a very high level of competition," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said. "We were really proud taking second.

"But even though we finished well, I still thought we came out a little flat. We have a lot of work to do before the end of the season."

Scott-Mississippi Conference Girls Basketball Tournament

The Kelly girls basketball team has the No. 1 seed and tips off action today in the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament, which is being hosted this week by Delta High School.

Kelly faces No. 8 East Prairie at 4 p.m. Fourth-seeded Scott City plays No. 5 Chaffee at 5:15 p.m. Delta, the No. 2 seed coming off a tournament championship its own New Year's tournament on Saturday, plays No. 7 Charleston at 6:30 p.m. The final game pits No. 3 Scott County Central aganst No. 6 Oran.

The tournament semifinals are set for 6:30 and 7:45 Thursday night. The championship game is 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Upset falls short

Less than four days after hammering Scott City 90-63 at home, Scott County Central nearly pulled off a huge upset in a battle of state-ranked teams Friday night.

Scott County Central, ranked No. 7 in the Class 1 state poll, lost 71-69 in front of a packed gym at Portageville, ranked No. 2 in Class 3.

"I was really tickled that we got away with a win," Portageville coach Jim Bitewell said. "They are very athletic, well coached, and they came in here not intimidated at all. In fact, it might have been the other way around for awhile."

Portageville (10-1) was led by Willie Hassell's game-high 28 points, while Isaac Porter scored 15 for the Braves (8-4), who converted only nine of 20 free throws.

"Our kids played with a lot of heart," Scott County Central coach Delane Beckwith said. "The intensity was there the whole game, and we had the opportunity to play in front of a full house at Portageville.

"If we would've hit our free throws, we would've won the game."

The Braves will have their hands full this week with home games against Kelly and Charleston.

Portageville will get another look at a state-ranked team Thursday when it travels to Dexter, ranked No. 3 in Class 4.

First meeting

Notre Dame was derailed from a potential meeting with Jackson at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament, but the two boys basketball teams will meet 7:30 Friday night at Jackson.

The contest will mark the first meeting for Jackson coach Darrin Scott against the team he coached last year.