RAMS, BRAVES ADVANCE WITH COMFORTABLE WINS

SCOTT CITY -- Top-seeded Scott City and No. 5 Scott County Central advanced to the semifinals of the Scott Mississippi Conference Tournament with comfortable wins Wednesday.

The host Rams improved to 15-1 with a 100-39 whipping of Chaffee (1-12). The Braves (6-8) upset fourth-seed Oran 72-59 as the Eagles fell to 8-6.

The Rams and Braves face each other Friday night at 8:30. No. 2 Kelly and No. 3 Delta play in the other semifinal Friday at 7 p.m.

Scott City dressed 10 players and got points from every one of them in its win. Jon Beck led the way with 20 points, Howie Stubenrauch had 14, Luke Sample 12, Tim Lowry 11 and Lance Amick 11. The Rams made 14 3-pointers, with Beck and Sample nailing four each.

Chaffee got 10 points from Wayne McAllister.

Scott County's John Fort unloaded 23 points and teammate Jreece Johnson 19 in the Braves' win. Jerod Hamm led Oran with 16 points. The Braves made 22 of 32 free throws; the Eagles shot just 9 of 19.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Parkway West 57, Cape Central 52

ST LOUIS -- The Cape Central Lady Tigers made a furious comeback in the second half only to fall on the road Wednesday night.

Central (9-5) trailed by as many as 21 points in the third quarter before battling back to make things close. Amy Harris scored a team-high 15 points followed by Kim Aslinger with 14 and Katie Dougherty's 13.

"(Parkway West) was the most talented team we've played all year," said Central coach Paula Watkins. "Even though we lost, I was pleased with the effort. This was the hardest we played in long time."

Central's JV won 31-19 as Liz Hobbs scored 10 points. The Lady Tigers host Charleston on Monday.

JR. HIGH BASKETBALL

Cape Central Tournament

Jackson and New Madrid will battle in the Tiger Fieldhouse tonight at 7:15 for the Cape Central Eighth Grade Tournament title.

Jackson beat Central 57-48 and New Madrid topped Notre Dame 56-48 in semifinal action Wednesday. Chris Cole scored 16 points for the Tigers.

Central and Notre Dame play the third-place game tonight at 6 p.m.