NMCC moves on to Showdown semifinals

POPLAR BLUFF — The New Madrid County Central Eagles got a big game from the trio of B.J. Williamson, Jadis Jones and A.J. Ruff — and the Eagles used that to take an 88-65 win over the Germantown (Tennessee) Red Devils Thursday in the opening round of the Poplar Bluff Showdown tournament.

For the Eagles, Jones ended up as the game’s leading scorer with 35 points, while Williamson came in second with 27.

NMCC (7-1) opened up an early lead in the first quarter thanks to a fast-break offense that took advantage of Germantown turnovers and the offense of Williamson, Jones and Ruff.

“Overall, we came out with a win, and we’ve been off for about a week and a half, not playing, just practicing,” said NMCC head coach Dontre’ Jenkins. “We have to do better on the defensive end,” he said. “We have to clean it up and be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Eagles' efforts were aided by Germantown fouls, which put the Eagles into the bonus for much of the first quarter.

Ja’Cory Dixon kept the Red Devils (7-4) in the game in the first half with several clutch baskets, but his team found it difficult to overcome the Eagles’ defensive pressure, which forced several turnovers.

Dixon led the Red Devils for the game with 23 points.

NMCC held a 10-point lead with 2:30 remaining in the half and then went on an 8-1 run to close out the period for a 43-26 advantage at halftime.

Both teams kept up the scoring pressure in the third quarter, trading baskets at both ends of the court. Germantown seemed to gain the momentum when Dixon hit a 3-pointer to cut the Eagles’ lead to 55-40, but Williamson answered at once with a long triple to extend the lead to 58-40.

NMCC led 66-48 at the end of the third quarter, and Jones took over in the fourth, extending the Eagles' lead further as the game drew toward the end. Dixon made a valiant effort for the Red Devils, but NMCC had an answer waiting for every basket.

The Eagles also tightened up their perimeter defense in the final period, and by the time Jenkins emptied his bench at 2:30 remaining, the only thing in doubt was the final score.

New Madrid advances to the semifinal game at 8:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of the final Thursday night game between Christian Brothers College from St. Louis and Urbana, Illinois.