PERRYVILLE GIRLS STUMBLE INTO FINAL OF 3A, DISTRICT 2

PARK HILLS -- The top-seeded Perryville High girls basketball team withstood fourth-seeded Arcadia Valley's upset bid in the semifinals of the Class 3A, District 2 Tournament held at Mineral Area College, winning 39-34 Wednesday night.

Perryville moved on to Friday's 6:30 p.m. championship game against second-seed Park Hills, but had to weather a poor shooting night to advance.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well the first half, and the second half the ball wasn't falling very well so we stalled most of the second half," said Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann.

Arcadia led 9-8 after the first quarter, but in a decisive second quarter Perryville held a 14-6 scoring edge to move ahead 22-15 by halftime.

Arcadia held a 19-18 scoring advantage in the second half. The Lady Tigers were within three points with a minute left, but Perryville held off the coup.

"Our defense wasn't that bad, but like I said, our shots just weren't falling. And we had a couple of girls didn't feel well and play like can they can. I hope we got the jitters out and that Friday we come out and play better than we did tonight," Lohmann said.

April Watts led Perryville with 12 points and Shannon Dreyer netted 10. Jennifer Miller scored a game-high 18 points for Arcadia.

In the other semifinal, Park Hills defeated North County 49-40.

Scott City 47, St. Vincent 31

PERRYVILLE -- Amy O'Brien connected for three 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 20 points as Scott City defeated St. Vincent on the road Wednesday night.

Scott City moved out to an 11-5 lead in the first quarter and extended its advantage in each ensuing quarter, leading 28-16 at halftime and 34-19 entering the fourth quarter.

O'Brien also had nine rebounds for the 18-5 Lady Rams. Megan Noon contributed six assists while Lani Bedwell had five steals.

Debbie Welker paced St. Vincent with 10 points.

Scott City's JV, the Scott-Mississippi champion, also won, completing an 18-1 season.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Class 3A, District 1

DEXTER -- Top-seeded Charleston and third-seeded New Madrid County Central won semifinal games Wednesday night to set up a championship showdown Friday night.

Charleston (22-5) routed fourth-seeded Kennett (15-12) 81-51 while New Madrid (16-9) beat second-seeded Doniphan (23-3) 63-48.

Howard Biles pumped in 25 points to spark Charleston. Romie Whitney had 14 and Tyshun Williams added 10.

Ed Farr poured in 34 points for New Madrid, which has gone 16-3 after an 0-6 start.

New Madrid defeated Charleston earlier in the season.