NOTRE DAME PLACES FOURTH IN SIKESTON TOURNEY

SIKESTON -- Notre Dame fell to second-seeded Blytheville 52-38 in the third-place game of the Sikeston Tournament Friday night.

The Bulldogs, after knocking off top-seeded Sikeston in the first round, lost the final two games of the tournament by 15 and 14 points, respectively.

"The kids are playing afraid of failure," said Notre Dame coach Chris Neff. "That (first-round game) was an upset. At this point it's pretty obvious. We played a bit better than we probably are at this point in the season. We're going to get a lot better and we're going to continue to work until we get to where we want to be."

Notre Dame was led in scoring by Chris Dirnberger, who scored 12 points on four 3-pointers.

Notre Dame trailed 24-16 at halftime.

The loss was costly in the injury column as well as the loss column. Michael Gosche broke his thumb in the game.

"The injury to Gosche does hurt," Neff said. "As much as people talk about our depth, you wouldn't think that would bother us, but it is a problem."

In the consolation game, Sikeston edged Charleston 56-54 on a shot by Tony Jones with four seconds left.

Brian Ellitt scored 23 points for Sikeston, followed by Andre Morgan with 10. Howard Biles led Charleston with 19. Lezcano Dean added 11 for the Blue Jays.

No. 6 seed New Madrid beat fifth-seeded Kennett 63-38 in the championship game.

Jackson 64, Kelly 42

BENTON -- Jackson used a smothering defense to defeat Kelly and improve to 3-1 on the year.

Levi Bollinger led Jackson with 19 points. Tony Meyr knocked down 12 points, Brad Hilbert recorded 11 and Nathan Brown added 11.

"We had a good start and got on top early," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "We did a good job defensively early. Kelly played better in the second quarter, but halfway through the third we kind of took control."

Jamie Essner, for Kelly, was the only player in double figures and scored 13 points. Kelly fell to 2-2 with the loss.

The Indians travel to Kennet next Friday.

Scott City 76, Oran 53

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City earned its first win in the Scott Mississippi Conference and remained undefeated with a victory over Oran.

The Rams' Scotty Johnston was the top scorer with 25 points. Johnston was eight for 10 from the field and hit nine out of12 free throws. Ryan Weatherspoon earned a double-double by scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Ben Sample added 15 points.

Scott City (5-0) led 46-24 at halftime and were never threatened in the second half.

"We have got to get better defensively," said Scott City coach Derek McCord. "We need to improve on offense too. We're going to continue to get better, but we need to be more fluid in our offense."

Oran shot 20-59 from the field, but two players were able to shoot for double figures. Eric Spies was tops in scoring for Oran with 17 points and Garrett Cook hit for 13 points.

Advance 56, Puxico 35

ADVANCE -- Advance easily handled Puxico to remain undefeated and up its record to 5-0.

Garrett Broshuis was the leading scorer for the Hornets, netting 21 points, including two 3-point shots. Teammate Daniel Turner chipped in with 12 points.

J.W. Mattingly led Puxico in scoring with 16 points.

Advance dominated early on, leading 20-8 after the first quarter, and went on to outscore Puxico 19-8 in the third quarter to earn the win.

"I thought that we had a great defensive effort early on in the game," said Advance coach Jim Hall. "Our defense dominated the game and created some easy baskets."

Advance returns to action Friday when Scott City visits.

North County 61, Perryville 48

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville fell to 0-2 on the season as the Pirates saw North County pull away in the second half.

Perryville, led by Ryan Wichern's 18 points, trailed just 26-25 at halftime, but saw North County widen the gap with a 20-15 scoring advantage in the third quarter.

Jordan Scott scored a game-high 24 for the Raiders.

"We hung in there the first half and did a good job on the defensive boards," said Perryville coach Jeff Steffens. "The second half it seemed like they got second and thrid chances on the offense end."

Scott County Central 88, Oak Ridge 66

MORLEY -- Scott County Central earned a hard-fought victory over Oak Ridge, thanks in large part to the the Braves' dynamic scoring duo of Jreece Johnson and Todd Blissett.

Johnson led all scorers by popping for 33 points, including three 3-pointers, while Blissett recorded 30.

"We didn't play very well," said Scott County coach Steve Wells. "We played a little flat. It was our first home game and we were wanting to play well. Oak Ridge played awfully well. They were well prepared."

The leading scorer for the Blue Jays was Bo Morrison, who netted 17 points. Teammate Clayton Ruefler had 12 and Duran Engler added 11.

Scott County Central improved their record to 4-1 with the win.

Woodland 54, Chaffee 29

CHAFFEE -- Woodland held Chaffee to just 10 points in the first half and cruised to an easy win.

C.W. Stacy led Woodland with 15 points, followed by Jason Greer with 14. Greer made four 3-pointers.

Chaffee was led in scoring by Matt Stroup, who had nine points.

Woodland led 25-10 at halftime.

Solid Rock 67, Eagle Ridge 57

FARMINGTON -- The defending MCSAA champion Solid Rock Christian boys opened up their season with a 10-point victory over Eagle Ridge Christian School.

Mike Luke was the top scorer of the contest, knocking down 18 pointstwo of which were three-pointersto lead Solid Rock to victory. Teammate Josh Nixon recorded 17 points, Todd Price hit for 14 points, Gene Gainer added 12 points and John Barks helped out with 10 for Solid Rock.

Eagle Ridge, which fell to 1-1, was led in scoring by Toby Shreve, who tallied 16 points. Andrew Mellies netted 14, while teammate Brandon Sparkman added 13.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Perryville 71, New Madrid 55

NEW MADRID -- The Lady Pirates were able to record their first win Thursday, thanks in part to the play of Amanda Schumer.

Schumer grabbed 12 rebounds and connected on four three-pointers en route to recording 19 points to lead Perryville in scoring. Teammate Jamie Amberger notched 12 points and snagged 15 rebounds. Stacy Baer and Amanda Nuyt chipped in with 13 points.

"Rebounding was the key to this match," said Perryville coach Vicki Lohman. "I'm very pleased with the girls' effort."

Perryville improved to 1-3 with the win.