PERRYVILLE BOYS REACH TITLE GAME OF CHESTER INVITATIONAL

CHESTER, Ill. -- Perryville moved into its third tournament championship game this season by upending top-seeded Trico in Thursday's semifinals of the Chester Invitational.

Fifth-seeded Perryville, which has already won the Woodland and MICDS tournaments this season, will meet tonight's New Athens-Dupo winner at 8 p.m. in Saturday's championship game.

"We were seeded fifth and that gave us a little motivation to try and get there again," said Perryville coach Rick Francis.

Perryville (15-1) won the MICDS Christmas Invitational as the ninth seed.

The loss was just the second of the season for Trico, which fell to 13-2.

Senior Matt Meyr led Perryville with 20 points while Bruce Weinkein tallied 18 and Scott Kassel added 16.

The Pirates opened a 27-12 lead by the close of the first quarter and still led 40-33 at halftime. Perryville took a 48-46 lead into the fourth quarter and saw Trico pull ahead in the early minutes of the period.

"We had to regain our composure," said Francis. "We really had trouble with their press."

Perryville regained the lead and a Meyr slam dunk with 4:51 left in the game put the Pirates up by three points.

"It really swung the momentum our way and we seemed to catch a second breath," said Francis.

Perryville has won 11 straight games and can tie the school record for consecutive wins in Saturday's championship game.

Girls Basketball

Charleston 54, Sikeston 27

SIKESTON -- Talisha Haynes scored 19 points as Charleston posted a comfortable victory over Sikeston.

The Lady Blue Jays, who had no other players score in double figures, led 13-7 at halftime and 36-14 at halftime.

Windsor 71, St. Vincent 31

IMPERIAL -- Imperial jumped out to a 16-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

The Lady Owls held a commanding 41-6 lead by halftime.

Laurie Kirn led St. Vincent (3-9) with eight points.