No identity crisis- Central rolls

Athough it might have looked otherwise, the Cape Central girls team did not hire cheap impersonators to play the part of their cross-town rival on Saturday.

The Lady Tigers played a team with Notre Dame printed across the front of their uniforms, but the similarities ended there. Cape Central administered a 66-35 thumping to Notre Dame of St. Louis, a team that was several notches below the level of local Notre Dame, a 2A powerhouse from Cape Girardeau.

The Notre Dame Rebels who made the trek from St. Louis were crushed upon arrival, falling to 3-9. Central is 10-4.

"That would be nice, but it's probably not going to happen," said Cape Central coach Sheila Midgett when asked if Saturday's result would be a little more gratifying if it were against the other Notre Dame.

As they did in a 103-21 rout of Egyptian (Ill.) on Thursday, the Lady Tigers wasted little time in taking control of the game.

Cape Central trailed 2-0 in the first quarter, but assumed control with a 12-0 run. The quarter ended with the Lady Tigers up 20-5. Central displayed a balanced attack as it opened a 15-point advantage and forced 10 turnovers, most of them the result of a full-court man-to-man press. Senior Sarah Hyslop, who controlled the boards with teammate Alex Wieser, scored just two of her game-high 26 points in the opening eight minutes.

"I don't feel we have to depend on any one person," Midgett said. "On any given night we have people that can score in double figures."

"Everyone else will step up when someone has an off night," agreed Hyslop, who scored a career-high 31 points in the Lady Tigers' win over Egyptian.

Point guard Megan McDonald, who had five steals on the game, scored eight of her 12 points in the first quarter.

Hyslop found the range with 11 points in the second quarter as Central took a commanding 37-12 lead into halftime. Wieser, a 6-foot junior forward, added 14 points.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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