LADY TIGERS DROP 40-24 DECISION TO PARKWAY WEST

ST. LOUIS -- The Cape Central Lady Tigers suffered just their third loss of the season with a 40-24 setback to Parkway West, the third-ranked team in Class 4A, on Saturday.

According to Central coach Darrick Smith, poor shooting led to the Lady Tigers' demise. Central (11-3) -- ranked eighth in Class 4A -- shot just 21 percent (9-for-43) from the field and just five of 11 from the foul line.

"We just didn't shoot real well," Smith said. "We had a lot of good looks. They're ranked third in the state and they're pretty good, but nine for 43 won't win you many games. It started early and snowballed."

Central's deficit hovered around 10 points for most of the game, but the Lady Tigers were forced to foul late and Parkway extended its lead by making free throws down the stretch.

"I didn't mind the effort," said Smith. "We did play hard. It was just our second ballgame in two weeks. Once we play more in a row, maybe we can get back in the swing of things. I don't think we were intimidated and our attitude hasn't changed because of this loss. We were just frustrated with the ball not going in."

Parkway West improved to 14-2.

Katie Dougherty led Central with 10 points.

The Lady Tigers, who never reached double digits in any quarter, trailed 17-9 at halftime.

Nerinx Hall 47, Jackson 42

ST. LOUIS -- Jackson made just 10 of its 25 foul shots and it cost the Lady Indians in a narrow loss to Nerinx Hall.

"We're not shooting the ball well right now as a team," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. "We're not shooting well from outside and we're missing our free throws."

Jackson (7-7) got a team-high 17 points from Andrea Koeper and 10 points from Cherish Tillman.

The game was tied at 23 at halftime, but Nerinx Hall took a 36-32 lead into the fourth quarter.

Perryville 57, Chester 45

CHESTER -- The Lady Pirates evened their record with a win over Chester.

Perryville (8-8) started out hot by jumping out to a 19-10 lead after the first quarter, but saw the lead trimmed to 28-27 going by halftime.

Perryville took a 44-41 lead into the fourth period and outscored Chester 13-4 over the final eight minutes.

Stacy Baer led Perryville with 12 points, followed by Jamie Amberger with 10.

"We started off really slow," said Perryville coach Vicki Lohman. "Our press wasn't working as well as it usually does, so it was nip and tuck going into the fourth. "

BOYS BASKETBALL

Cape Central 66, Riverview Gardens 64

ST. LOUIS -- Cape Central bounced back from a 62-33 drubbing by DeSmet Friday night by edging Riverview Gardens on Saturday.

"We responded well considering the loss to DeSmet last night," said Cape Central coach Brett Reutzel. "Riverview is a good team, comparable to us in that they face tough competition, but they're not quite as good as DeSmet. I thought we showed a lot of class and heart with the win."

Cape Central (7-10) got on Riverview early, going up 21-14 in the first quarter and took a 36-30 lead into halftime. Central was outscored 15-14 in the third and fell behind in the fourth quarter.

"They never stopped and used constant trapping and rotation," said Reutzel. "We coughed up the ball which led to them scoring a basket with five minutes left, giving them a two point lead, but we crashed the boards well and held on for the win."

The Tigers won despite giving up 11 3-pointers. Jonathon Ayers led the Tigers in scoring with 22 points and Ross Conner netted 14 points and collected 21 rebounds. Eric Wessel added 10 points.

Riverview's Jamiah Wade and Matt Robinson notched 20 points apiece.

Cape Central will return to action by playing host to tenth-ranked class 4A Portageville on Tuesday.