Jones, Williamson combine for 40 as NMCC outduels Cape Central

SIKESTON- An efficient scoring night from Jadis Jones and some timely secondary scoring from BJ Williamson led the New Madrid County Central Eagles to a 64-51 win over the Cape Central Tigers in the semifinals of the SEMO Conference Tournament.

Early on it appeared the Tigers were going to seize control of the game as sophomore standout Tyseandre’ Edwards erupted for 10 points to push Cape Central to an 18-12 lead after the first quarter.

“They were hitting some tough shots,” Eagles coach Dontre Jenkins said. “We made a couple adjustments going into the second quarter and we executed.”

Whatever adjustments Jenkins and his staff drew up proved to be the right ones as the Eagles, and more specifically Jones, got rolling.

Jones poured in 11 of his game-high 26-points in the second quarter.

“He’s just very unselfish,” Jenkins said. “He was getting double and triple teamed and he was looking for his teammates. He’s a top tier kid and a top tier player. He plays the game for the right reasons and he plays it the right way.”

With Jones’ scoring slowly building the Eagles’ momentum, that all culminated with a busted play as the clock was expiring to end the first half.

Williamson recovered the ball from going into the backcourt, heaved a shot from just inside half court and before it went in, Jones could be heard celebrating the eventual made three from his teammate that gave the Eagles a 32-26 halftime lead.

“That’s BJ being BJ,” Jenkins said. “He practices those shots. That was momentum for us going into the locker room.”

Jenkins knew it would be important to capture that momentum and not let the halftime break cool them off, but he wasn’t the only one who understood that.

“Before I even walked into the locker room Jadis and BJ were telling them we haven’t done anything yet and that there was still another half to play,” Jenkins said. “Having those guys in the locker room that beat me to saying stuff helps out a bunch.”

Defensively the Eagles played sound, holding Edwards to just 2-points after his 10 point beginning.

After holding Jaydon Reynolds scoreless in the first half, he was able to post a 15-point second half to keep the Tigers in the game.

“The message for tonight was to get out on (Reynolds) and to get out on (Edwards,” Jenkins said. “We wanted to make it tough on them. They hit some shots but they’re good players so they’re going to make shots.”

Following up Jones’ 26-point evening was Williamson with 14 points, Ra’Mond Brooks with 11 points, Marvion Cranford with 8 points and AJ Ruff with 5 points.

For the Tigers, they were paced by Reynolds’ 15-point night. Following that up was Tyson Williams with 13 points, Edwards with 12 points and Goliath Morris-Young with 7 points.

Caps Central (3-2) looks to rebound from the semifinal loss and claim third-place in the SEMO Conference Tournament as the Tigers are set to face off with the Poplar Bluff Mules at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 8, at the Sikeston Field House.

NMCC (5-0) will battle the top seed and tournament host Sikeston Bulldogs for the SEMO Conference Championship at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 8, at the Sikeston Field House.

“We have to come out and compete,” Jenkins said. “We have to control the game. You can’t come out and try and run with them because that’s what they want to do.”