Kelly KO's Charleston

The seventh-seeded Hawks stopped the tournament's most decorated team in the quarterfinal round.

Charleston boasts the most Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament titles of any team in the field with 15, but for the second straight year the Blue Jays will not be making an appearance in the finals.

In the biggest upset of the tournament, the seventh-seeded Kelly Hawks knocked off No. 2 Charleston 65-60 in a quarterfinal Tuesday night at the Show Me Center.

Kelly led the seesaw battle most of the way, leading at halftime and after the third quarter.

Kelly will play Scott City in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Charleston will play Advance in the fifth-place bracket.

"We played a team effort," Kelly coach Cory Johnson said. "When we play as a team, we can beat anyone. Everyone stepped up and played their role. We did exactly what we talked about in pregame."

While the Blue Jays had the clear size advantage with Ashton Farmer (6-foot-6), Justin Clark (6-3) and Jamarcus Williams (6-4) in the lineup, Kelly was able to help itself with plenty of second-chance points off rebounds.

"That's just all heart," Kelly guard Kendal Deason said. "We wanted it more, and we got it."

With Charleston in foul trouble for much of the fourth quarter, the game came down to Kelly's ability to convert from the line. Deason was nearly flawless for the Hawks at the stripe, going 7-for-8, including several free throws down the stretch.

The turning point likely came with the Hawks ahead 57-53 with about 1:30 left in the game, when Farmer's fifth foul sent Clay Mothershead to the line for two free throws. Charleston coach Danny Farmer was then given a technical, and with one make from Mothershead and a pair of free throws from Deason the Hawks were in control.

Johnson said his team has really come a long way over the season from the free-throw line.

"They work on those every day," he said.

Charleston tried to come back late, but simply could not make up the ground.

Deason led the Hawks with 21 points. Mothershead added 11 points and Jordan Felter had 10 for the Hawks.

"It's probably one of the most intense games I've played in. It was the funnest game I've played in," Deason said.

Clark led Charleston with 19 points. Williams had 12 points. Shawn Sherrell had 12 points but fouled out, as did Farmer with 10 points.

Kelly is looking for its first tournament final appearance since losing to Charleston in 1997.

"This is probably the first time we've beaten Charleston in at least 10 years," Johnson said.

KELLY 65, CHARLESTON 60

Kelly 14 14 14 23 -- 65

Charleston 14 6 19 21 -- 60

KELLY (65) -- Kendal Deason 21, Derek Felter 9, Jordan Felter 10, Kent Deason 8, Clay Mothershead 11, Michael Glastetter 6. FG: 25; FT: 12-18; Fouls: 16. (3-pointers: Kendal Deason 2, D. Felter 1; Fouled out: none)

CHARLESTON (60) -- Moses Gater 1, Shawn Sherrell 12, Chris Cassell 3, Ashton Farmer 10, Justin Clark 19, Josh Thompson 3, Jamarcus Williams 12. FG: 19; FT: 16-26; Fouls: 14. (3-pointers: Sherrell 2, Clark 3, Cassell 1; Fouled out: Sherrell, Farmer)

Scott City 63, Advance 47

After falling to the Hornets two weeks ago, Scott City dominated the second meeting between the two teams to advance to the semfinals.

The Rams (5-3) jumped to an early lead with the help of Mark Johnston, who scored 14 points in the first half while Scott City built a 37-24 lead.

Advance cut the lead to 10 points but would get no closer.

Johnston finished with 16 points, and Mark Dannenmueller led the Rams with 29.

Advance was led by Daryl Wade's 16 points.

Advance 10 14 11 14 -- 47

Scott City 18 19 8 18 -- 63

ADVANCE (47) -- Daryl Wade 16, Jeremy Limbaugh 9, James Masters 7, Dustin Kalinski 6, Drew Sherman 3, Tyler Bowman 1, Alex Stell 3, Josh Bailey 2. FG: 18; FT: 6-14. (3-pointers: Wade 3, Limbaugh 1, Sherman 1. Fouled out: none)

SCOTT CITY (63) -- Mark Dannenmueller 29, Mark Johnston 16, Farrell Wasson 8, Daniel Jackson 5, Travis Glueck 3, Alex King 2. FG: 27; FT: 4-5 (3-pointers: 4, Glueck 1; Fouled out: Landon Hill)

Central 65, Bell City 40

After top-seeded Jackson made its way into the semifinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament with a rout of No. 9 Scott County Centra,l the first piece of a rivalry showdown with Central fell into place.

Central upheld its end of the bargain with a 65-40 rout of No. 5 Bell City on Tuesday at the Show Me Center. Central and Jackson will meet in a rematch of last year's final at 6 p.m. tonight. Bell City (6-3) will face Scott County Central in the fifth-place semifinals.

The Tigers (5-4) climbed over .500 and have won three of their last four. Central made the No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup look like quite a mismatch by jumping out to a 22-7 first-quarter lead. The Tigers were up by as many as 30 points at the end of the third quarter. Central held Bell City to 21 percent shooting from the floor, but Bell City cut the lead late with its starters going against Central's reserves.

Anthony Hempstead led the Tigers with 14 points. Darnell Wilks added 12 points for the Tigers from the post.

Bell City got 11 points from Phillip Gross and 10 from D.D. Gillespie.

Bell City 7 13 10 10 -- 40

Central 22 22 16 5 -- 65

BELL CITY (40) -- Phillip Gross 11, D.D. Gillespie 10, Jeff Liggins 5, Garrett McIntyre 6, Nick Niemczyk 1, Blaine Stewart 7. FG 13, FT 11-17, F 27 (3-pointers: Gillespie 1. Fouled out: Stewart)

CENTRAL (65) -- Anthony Hempstead 14, Darnell Wilks 12, Eli Harris 9, Alex Ray 6, Garrett Ozbun 6, Xavier Wilford 4, Jared Thomas 5, Trevor Beckham 2, Tyler Griffin 1, Tyrone Reece 4, Darris Gerlach 2. FG 21, FT 23-40, F 19 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)