New Madrid County Central hangs on at Caruthersville

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. — New Madrid County Central overcome a halftime deficit to win 76-74 at Caruthersville on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

BJ Williamson had a game-high 30 points and Jadis Jones added 22 to lead the Eagles (14-7), while Jermonte Alexander was the Tigers’ (14-3) top performer with 19.

“I believe we handle the physicality of the game well,” said NMCC assistant coach Dontre Jenkins. “We drew fouls on them most of the game but we didn’t take advantage of that because we went 20-for-42 from the free throw line. In most close games when you miss that many free throws you normally don’t pull out a win.

“But our guys continued to compete and attack the basket for easy looks around the rim,” he continued. “We got up by eight points late in the fourth quarter but could never get over the hump to expand the lead. A lot of that had to do with us not being able to knock down free throws throughout the game.”

NMCC will host Jackson (15-7) on Thursday and compete against Rock Bridge (16-4) on Saturday in the Hall of Fame Classic.

Caruthersville hosts Kennett (8-13) on Feb. 14.

__NEW MADRID COUNTY CENTRAL 76, CARUTHERSVILLE 74__

NMCC 17 16 25 18 — 76

C’Ville 16 19 15 22 — 74

__NMCC (76) —__ BJ Williamson 30, Jadis Jones 22, Brayden Newsom 12, Kayden Minner 6, AJ Ruff 6, Ra’Mond Brooks 2. FG: 28. FT: 20-42. F: 14. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)

__Caruthersville (74) —__ Jermonte Alexander 19, Lawrence Epkins 12, Danny Ricks 12, Gavin Motton 10, Ty’Lan Golliday 8, Isaiah Rodgers 5, Sammy Bryant 4, Emaurion Truss 2. FG: 30. FT: 5-9. F: 24. (3-pointers: Alexander 3, Holliday 2, Rodgers 1, Ricks 1. Fouled out: Alexander, Motton, Rodgers.)