PREP NOTES: CHARLESTON DISPLAYED EXTRA GEAR IN U-HIGH CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST

After struggling through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the University High School Christmas Tournament with narrow victories, the top-seeded Charleston Blue Jays didn't look like the overwhelming favorites most everyone expected heading into the championship game against second-seed Kelly.

But the Blue Jays saved their best tournament game for last, pulling away from the previously undefeated Hawks in the second half late Tuesday night to win their 12th tourney title 70-55 at the Show Me Center.

Charleston (10-1) needed overtime to get past No. 9 Woodland 63-62 in the quarterfinals and nearly lost a heart-stopper to No. 4 Scott City in the semifinals Monday 63-60. But with the title game tied 33-33 at halftime, Charleston took over the second half early and never allowed the Hawks to get close.

"They had been kind of sluggish in the other three games, but this was their best game," Kelly coach Kent Mangels said of the Blue Jays' championship performance.

"Not to take anything away from the other teams, but we faced a different Charleston team. They played with a little fire in their eyes and they played with a lot more intensity."

Charleston's Larico Coleman, who had struggled with foul problems in the two previous games, controlled his overly aggressive play to score a game-high 26 points. Coleman led Charleston's scorers in three of the Blue Jays' four tourney games.

"Coleman was very hard to guard, especially right off the bat," said Mangels. "He was cutting and slashing to the bucket, and we weren't reacting well to it."

Coleman scored 14 points in the first quarter as the Blue Jays took an 18-14 lead. The loss dropped Kelly to 10-1.

Tigers roar back

Thanks to three coaches seeding the Cape Central Tigers ninth for this year's tourney, the defending-champions ended up with a surprisingly low sixth-seed.

Granted, the Tigers haven't burnt up the court this season, but there's no way Central should have gotten seeded No. 9 on anyone's ballot with a 3-2 mark heading into the tourney.

The Tigers had made it to the championship final the past four years before Kelly beat them in Monday's semifinals.

But Central got the last laugh, providing the biggest upset of the tournament -- according to the seeds -- when they beat No. 3 Jackson in the quarterfinals 51-46. The Tigers eventually claimed fourth-place.

Said Central coach Brett Reutzel of the three ninth place votes his team received prior to the tourney:

"Obviously they didn't think we were very good. We wanted to prove some people different."

Bombs-away Beck

Scott City's Jon Beck needed a big night in the Rams' third-place contest against Cape Central to catch Scott County Central sophomore Jreece Johnson for the tournament scoring title.

Beck's tournament-high 34 points were just enough to top Johnson, as the Rams claimed third place with a 63-48 victory.

After scoring nine points in an opening-round blowout of Oak Ridge, Beck pumped in 28 and 27 points prior to his 34-point performance. He averaged 24.5 points in four games, while Johnson averaged 23.7 points in three games for the Braves.

Notes from Bloomfield

It appears second-seed Doniphan's 62-60 victory over previously undefeated -- and top-seeded -- Portageville earned them more than just the Bloomfield Tournament championship.

With Kelly losing its first game to Charleston in the U-High Tournament final, the Dons are now the only undefeated boys basketball team in Southeast Missouri. Doniphan currently sports a perfect 11-0 mark.

Illegal high-five

It's a good thing Scott City's Tim Lowery didn't have his wallet with him when he attempted a last-second desperation shot against Charleston in the Rams' 63-60 U-High semifinal loss.

He got mugged.

I'll admit, I'm not that well-versed on the prep basketball rule book. But when two opposing players "high-five" each other in the course of a game, a foul should be called.

Some people say the officials shouldn't decide the outcome of a game, but it would have been interesting to see if Lowery could have tied the game with three free throws and no time on the clock.

The pressure would have been squarely on Lowery, not the officials.

Final thoughts ...

* Anyone that saw the performance by Woodland junior David Massa in the Cardinals' overtime loss to Charleston knows he should have been on the all-tournament team. Massa scored 21 points and took a beating handling the Blue Jays' full-court pressure defense.

* Bell City, despite being an 11th-seed, had a heck of a tournament. The Cubs reached the consolation championship before finally falling to No. 8 Oran 54-52.

Bell City had four players average over 10 points in the tournament with a fifth -- scrappy senior Richard Surface -- averaging 9.8 points a game.

* Class 1A Delta placed a solid sixth, despite being one of the smaller teams in the tournament.

Delta's finish might be disappointing considering they were seeded fifth, but the Bobcats lost in overtime to No. 4 Scott City in the quarterfinals and played No. 3 Jackson in the fifth-place game closer than the 65-55 score indicates.

* It's a good thing, Scott City's sweet-shooting Jon Beck didn't have another record-breaking 3-point night during the U-High tournament like he did when he drained 16 3-pointers earlier this month.

With tournament public address announcer Frank Ellis calling out every THAH-REEEEEEEE, Ellis' voice may have needed medical attention. I know my ears would still be ringing. In fact, I think they still are ... THAH-REEEEEEEEE!

Rus Baer is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.