No. 1 Charleston cruises to 87-58 victory over SCC

Charleston's Jordy Mixon is all about results.

He doesn't get it done with flash or style.

His baskets don't draw oohs and aahs from the crowd and he doesn't have a sweet stroke from long range.

Graceful, he's not.

But any high school coach in Southeast Missouri would love to have this "role player."

Mixon exploded for 30 points in about 20 minutes in leading a hot Charleston squad past overmatched Scott County Central 87-58 in the University High Christmas Tournament quarterfinals Thursday.

Charleston, the top seed, will take on No. 4 Oran in a 6 p.m. semifinal today. No. 8 Scott Central will battle No. 5 Bell City in a fifth-place semifinal at 3 p.m.

"I just try to play hard for the team," said Mixon, who has scored 56 points in two tournament games. "I try to be a leader on the floor and I try to be a role player. I do my job and I try to make sure everybody else does their job."

Mixon, a first-team all-state running back, scored all of his points within 15 feet of the basket. Most of them he scored on short to medium-range jump shots, but he scored several easy baskets by beating Scott Central down the court and making layups.

Though he is only 5-foot-11, Mixon's quickness off the floor makes him one of the top rebounders and post players in the region. But his quickness and athleticism creates matchup nightmares for opposing coaches.

"He is so active," said Scott Central coach Steve Wells. "He's in movement all the time. And he's got a great medium-range game. You don't see a lot of ball players these days with the medium-range game that he has."

Mixon wasn't the only Charleston player on the top of his game Thursday.

The Bluejays were nearly flawless on the offensive end, hitting 34 of their 72 shots from the field. They turned the ball over just seven times despite a frantic pace.

"I thought we looked a lot better today," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. "We shot the ball better tonight and that's my concern with this team -- shooting the ball. Our effort has been there, we've just got to get it all together."

Scott Central had no defensive answer for Charleston in the first quarter.

The Bluejays made 11 of their 18 shots and led 26-15 going into the second quarter.

Even on a rare Charleston miss, the Bluejays seemed to get an offensive rebound and putback. The Bluejays scored points on 13 of their 18 possessions in the first eight minutes.

Charleston cooled off considerably in the second quarter, but Scott Central couldn't take advantage as the Braves went cold as well. Charleston made just six of its 22 shots in the second quarter, while Scott Central hit four of 16. The Bluejays outscored the Braves 18-17 and took a 44-32 lead into halftime.

Mixon was stellar in the first half. He had 18 at halftime.

The second half began much the same way the first half began. Charleston was nearly flawless offensively, hitting 14 of 19 shots, including 12 of 15 from 2-point range and the rout was on as the Bluejays led 76-45 going into the fourth quarter.

"Charleston's tough," said Wells. "I think the tournament's theirs to win or lose. It'll be tough for anyone to man up with them and beat them."