PORTAGEVILLE PICKS UP UNINSPIRED 'W' AT CAPE CENTRAL

Dried toast.

A lecture on the mating habits of dragon flies.

A half hour of C-Span, perhaps.

Few things could be as bland as the Cape Central-Portageville game at Tiger Field House Tuesday night.

Other than three dunks by Portageville's William Dirden neither team had much to get excited about as Portageville managed a 50-34 victory over the Tigers.

Cape Central coach Brett Reutzel was obviously disappointed with his team's effort, especially after the Tigers defeated Riverview Gardens Saturday, a team that he thought was quicker and bigger than Portageville.

"We had a lot of breakdowns both mentally and physically," said Reutzel. "Portageville picked us apart. We were flat and weren't very aggressive."

Portageville coach Jim Bidewell wasn't doing backflips over his team's performance either particularly in the first half.

"We're known to get sloppy sometimes," he said. "It's just part of our game I guess. I thought the kids came in mentally prepared to play, but we made a lot of turnovers unnecessarily."

The difference in the game was clearly the third quarter where suddenly Portageville (14-4) got un-sloppy and outscored the Tigers (7-11) 15-4. The Bulldogs, who dropped out of the state's top 10 for the first time this season in today's media poll, scored on eight of their 15 possessions in the third quarter.

Central, meanwhile, turned the ball over six times during that stretch.

"The last few games, we've let up in the third quarter," Bidewell said. "I was glad to see the team come out that way. We need to put teams away when we get the chance.

Dirden provided a game-high 20 points and pretty much dominated the game. And his three dunks gave the crowd something to cheer about. Matt Whitson added 11 points for Portageville.

Cape Central's Ross Conner, who is averaging 15.4 points and 10 rebounds per game, scored just four points. Conner sat much of the fourth quarter.

The Tigers were led in scoring by Jonathan Ayers, who scored 12 points.

Other than the third quarter, the overall stats were pretty even.

Portageville turned the ball over 15 times, while Central committed 16 miscues. The Bulldogs shot 20 percent from 3-point range (two of 10), while Cape Central made just one of six from behind the arc for 17 percent. Neither team shot many free throws. Central made three of five and Portageville made four of six.

In the Tigers' defense, Eric Wessel -- the team's best 3-point shooter -- was playing with the flu. And its other main outside threat -- Chris Cole -- didn't play after injuring his ankle against Notre Dame last week.