Marquel Murray scores 19 as Tigers ground Blue Jays on the road

Marquel Murray scored 19 points to lead Cape Central to a 75-58 road win against Charleston on Tuesday, Feb. 13, in Charleston, Mo.

Murray, a sophomore, has consistently led the Tigers in scoring and continues to improve.

"I think he gets better," Cape Central head coach Drew Church said. "Every day when he puts himself in good spots, he's so fast and athletic. Sometimes he gets himself in tough situations but [Tuesday] he played slow, he changed speeds well, took on-balanced shots, and when he does that he's really good."

Southeast Missouri State commit Jay Reynolds scored 15 points with three baskets from the three-point line. Ty Edwards added 13 points and Max Vogel chipped in 10 points to round out the double-digit scoring for the Tigers.

Tayshon Clark led the Blue Jays with 13 points while Ko'Terrion Owens and Deshaun Henderson added 10 points each.

The Tigers established a presence on the arc during the first quarter with three long shots to lead 20-17. Murray scored eight of the Tigers' 16 points in the second quarter while the defense held the Blue Jays to under 10 points to go to halftime up 36-26.

It turned into a rout in the third quarter as Murray, Vogel, and Edwards combined to score 18 of Cape Central's 25 points as the Tigers outscored the Blue Jays 25-10 to enter the fourth quarter leading 61-36.

"We talked at halftime, made some adjustments defensively on how to guard some of their guys," Church said. "I think it comes down to grit. We rebounded better in the second half and that helps us get out in transition."

Those fastbreaks came out in bunches at the end of the third quarter, and the period was punctuated by dunks from Murray and Edwards.

"I thought we played better [Tuesday]," Church said. "I thought we had good spacing and shared the ball."

The Blue Jays made a frantic effort to gain some ground with 22 points in the fourth quarter after the Tigers emptied the bench, but it was far too late.

The Tigers collectively made nine three-point shots and made 10-of-19 from the free-throw line. The Blue Jays made only two shots from the arc and were 6-of-15 from the charity stripe.

Charleston (12-13) travel to Poplar Bluff on Thursday, Feb. 15, to conclude the regular season and prepare for the Class 3 District 1 Tournament, where the Blue Jays are the top seed.

The Tigers travel to New Madrid County Central to take on the defending Class 3 champion Eagles. The two teams previously met in the SEMO Conference Tournament, where the Eagles won 64-51 on Dec. 7.

Cape Central (14-8) has spent the last three weeks against the likes of Vashon, Christain Brothers College, Eureka, New Madrid, Jackson, and undefeated Sikeston. Church is hoping the heightened competition will sharpen the Tigers in time for the Class 5 District 1 Tournament on Feb. 29.

"I made the schedule a little too hard," Church said. "We need to see where we're at. It's tough to go through adversity so you kind of see where your character is. So my hope is that we'll get through this and we'll stay strong and better for it. We want to be playing our best basketball in two weeks. That's all there is to it."