NOTRE DAME GIRLS STOP CHARLESTON

Notre Dame High's girls basketball team blew open a close game in the second half and beat visiting Charleston Monday night 62-44. The game was the Lady Bulldogs' first since Dec. 21.

Notre Dame (8-4) led by four points at halftime, 26-22, before outscoring Charleston 20-2 in the second quarter.

"I'm glad to get a game in," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "In the third quarter we jumped on them. They all played hard tonight."

Notre Dame received balanced scoring. Randi Senciboy had 14 points, Amanda Lange added 13 and Tracy Blattel finished with 12.

Charleston was led by Talisha Haynes' 21 points. Stacy Galmore added 11.

Jackson 57, New Madrid Co. 36

NEW MADRID -- Jackson outscored New Madrid County Central 23-2 in the first quarter and cruised from there for a win on the road Monday.

Jackson, which suffered its second loss of the season Saturday to St. Joseph's Academy in three overtimes, improved to 9-2.

"We played well tonight," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. "We shot the ball better and got a good team effort."

Christa Millham led all scorers with 18 points.

"Christa played well," Cook said. "She penetrated well tonight."

Also for Jackson, Dana Eakins and Michele Millham both had 10 points.

Perryville 65, Festus 39

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville outscored Festus 36-9 in the second and third quarters and won at home Monday.

The Lady Pirates improved to 9-4.

Renee Kaempfe, Dena Schumer and Erin Blevins had 15, 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Perryville coach Steve Wunderlich said that his team's board work was the difference in the game. Schumer had 11 rebounds, Cicely Guth 9 and Blevins 7.

"We owned the rebounds," said Wunderlich.

Herculaneum 58, St. Vincent 28

PERRYVILLE -- Herculaneum led St. Vincent 27-6 after one quarter and breezed past the Squaws Monday.

St. Vincent dropped to 3-8.

Becky Lorenz led the Squaws with eight points. Herculaneum's Katie Gielow led all scorers with 23 points.

Scott-Mississippi tourney

ORAN -- Third-seeded Kelly annihilated No. 6 East Prairie 91-11 and No. 4 Scott County Central beat No. 5 Chaffee 72-46 in first round play in the six-team Scott-Mississippi County Conference Tournament Monday.

Kelly led East Prairie 20-4 after one quarter and 43-5 at halftime.

The Lady Hawks had five players in double figures. Pam Essner and Jennifer McNeill both had 21 points, Tiffany Glastetter had 14 and Suzanne Urhahn and Heather Scott both added 10.

In the night's other game, Scott County Central was led by 5-foot-3 freshman Vontrice Blackmon, who led all scorers with 23 points. Danika Kidd added 16 and Tashika Raby finished with 12.

For Chaffee, Renee Vandeven and Kate Nolen both had 15 points.

Scott County Central led 20-12 after the first quarter and outscored the Lady Red Devils in each of the next three periods.

BOYS

Perryville 60, Red Bud 47

CHESTER, Ill. -- Masquerading as the No. 5 seed in the Chester Invitational, Perryville took its first step toward its second tournament title of the season with a victory over No. 4 seed Red Bud.

Perryville (13-1) blocked 12 shots in advancing to Thursday's semifinal game against top-seeded Trico.

Bruce Weinkein led the way with 15 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots. The 6-foot-11 Weinkein also hit two 3-point shots. Scott Kassel scored all 14 of his points in the second half and finished with 10 rebounds and five blocks. Matt Meyr added 13 points.

"Our outside game got us off to a good start, which is unusual," said Perryville coach Rick Francis. "Normally it's the inside game that gets us going."

The Pirates opened a 19-7 lead in the first quarter and led 32-21 at halftime. Perryville outscored Red Bud 17-6 in the third quarter to ice the game.

Over the Christmas break Perryville won the MICDS Christmas tournament as the ninth seed.

Francis voiced dismay with the Chester tournament seeding after Monday's game, calling Thursday's game with Trico the "championship game." Perryville played in the tournament's championship game last year and returns nearly all its players. Perryville is currently state ranked in Class 3A.

"Chester put themselves in a bracket where they wouldn't have to play us or the top seed till the championship game," said Francis. "I'm not very happy. It's not right for the kids. We didn't work our tail off the first 14 games to be seeded fifth."

Shawnee C.C. falls

ULLIN, Ill. -- Shawnee Community College lost to Rend Lake at home Monday 81-77.

Shawnee dropped to 3-12.

Jason Long, from Bernie, had 22 points for Shawnee and Jamie Sifford, from Dexter, added 17.