Red Devils down Zalma for first win

ZALMA, Mo. -- The Chaffee boys basketball team, behind 21 points by Chase Eskew, picked up its first victory of the season Friday night by cruising past winless Zalma 65-52.

James Reischmann added 16 points for the Red Devils (1-3), who led 42-21 at halftime and 58-27 after three quarters. Zalma outscored Chaffee 25-7 in the final eight minutes.

"I thought our level of intensity was high right from the start," said David Mirly, who picked up his first coaching victory at Chaffee. "Our defense picked it up when we needed to, and we shot the ball better tonight, which is something we need to do to be successful."

Chad Wiseman scored a game-high 23 points for Zalma (0-6) while Curt Wiseman added 10.

"I'm disappointed in the effort in the second and third quarters," said Zalma coach Dwyght Ford. "It was a nice effort in the last quarter, we just didn't have it the whole game."

KENNETT 48, JACKSON 44

KENNETT, Mo. -- Jackson suffered a narrow loss to a solid Kennett squad as the Indians missed two late 3-pointers that would have given them the lead.

The Indians (2-3) trailed 26-16 at halftime but found themselves down by just two points with about 20 seconds left when they missed the two long-range shots. Kennett then scored a clinching basket just before the buzzer.

Jeffrey Beck paced Jackson with 13 points while Dustin Pritchett scored 14 for Kennett.

"Kennett is a really good team and we are at times," said Jackson coach Mike Kiehne. "We didn't play real well the first half. I thought we let them dictate the tempo. We played much better in the second half."

BELL CITY 88, BERNIE 78

BERNIE, Mo. -- Eric Henry broke loose for 40 points as Bell City rallied from a 21-point second-quarter deficit to pull out a win.

Bernie took a 21-13 lead into the second quarter and opened up a 41-20 advantage midway through the period. Bell City coach David Heeb then pulled all his starters and his bench proceeded to launch the comeback.

"Kenyan Wright and Todd Brown really sparked us," said Heeb. "From then on everybody got on board and really started playing."

Bell City (6-2) cut the lead to 45-34 by halftime.

"They really had us on the ropes," said Heeb. "In the second half it was unbelievable. The kids never gave up and never quit fighting."

The Cubs cut the lead to 66-61 by the close of the third quarter and outscored Bernie 27-12 over the final eight minutes.

Henry had 19 of his points in the first half and saved 21 more for the second half. Wright finished with 18 points while Dominitrix Johnson scored all 14 of his points in the second half.

Chad Woolridge paced four Bernie players in double figures with 20 points.

ADVANCE 68, SCOTT CITY 42

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Advance spotted Scott City the game's first seven points but had little trouble in keeping the Rams winless.

The Hornets (5-1) trailed 15-11 after one quarter but surged ahead 34-24 by halftime. Jared Ritter paced Advance with 20 points. Also in double figures were Eric O'Hare with 12 and Andrew Jenkins and Jason Bahr with 11 apiece.

Scott City (0-4) got 12 points from D.J. Walton and 10 from Aaron Simmers.

"We got off to a slow start but from the second quarter on I thought we played well," said Advance coach Jim Hall. "We pressured them all night and got some turnovers that led to easy baskets."

ST. VINCENT 58, LEOPOLD 47

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- A horrible first half doomed Leopold to its fifth loss of the season and helped keep St. Vincent undefeated.

The Wildcats (2-5) fell behind 23-2 after one quarter and 37-7 at halftime. They made a valiant second-half charge but the Indians (3-0) never let their lead dip under seven points.

Matt Wengert led the Indians with 16 points and Tyler Wengert added 15.

Leopold got 15 points from Scott VanGennip -- on five 3-point baskets -- and 10 points from both Josh Van de Ven and Paul Hutchings. The Wildcats hit nine 3-pointers.

"We couldn't throw it in the ocean in the first half," said Leopold coach Carlton Thoma. "I told the kids at halftime that was the worst half I've seen, but we played well in the second half. It was like two different worlds."

Said St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy, "We had one of our best defensive efforts I've seen. The first half we were all in their faces. But you have to give Leopold credit. They took it to us in the second half."

In something of an oddity, Leopold did not attempt a free throw the entire game.

"I don't know that I've ever coached a game where that happened," Thoma said.

PERRYVILLE 70, STE. GENEVIEVE 34

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perryville continued its strong start by crushing Ste. Genevieve.

The Pirates (5-1), who led 34-17 at halftime and then outscored the Dragons 16-2 in the third quarter, were paced by Kyle Noennig and Chad Ozark with 12 points each. Jason Dreyer added 10 points.

"We played really well," said Perryville coach Jeff Steffens. "We shot the ball well and got after them defensively, which led to some easy baskets."

ORAN 74, DELTA 38

DELTA, Mo. -- Oran pulled away in the second half as the Eagles continued to roll.

The Eagles (5-1) led just 34-26 at halftime but they outscored the Bobcats 40-12 over the final two quarters.

Nathan Seyer scored 25 points to lead the Eagles, who also got 19 points from Ryne Wood and 14 from Patrick Friga.

Delta was led by Joey Keys with 15 points.

WOODLAND 58, KELLY 44

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Woodland steadily pulled away for a 14-point victory over Kelly.

The Cardinals (5-2), who led 11-6 after one quarter, 26-18 at halftime and 45-29 entering the final period, got 16 points from Alex VanGennip, 12 from Michael Owens and 11 from Travis Benfield.

Kelly was paced by Lance Scheffer with 14 points.

CHARLESTON 83, CARUTHERSVILLE 67

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- In a battle between area Class 2A powers, Charleston withstood a 30-point outburst by Caruthersville's Chris Springer.

The Bluejays (3-3) were led by Ashton Farmer with 18 points. Jordy Mixon and Kewane Gant followed with 14 each while Dontay Clark and Deshaundry Hamilton added 10 apiece.

Springer hit 8 3-pointers but it was not enough to lift the Tigers (7-2), who trailed 45-35 at halftime.

SOUTHERN MISSOURI 53, EAGLE RIDGE 43

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Eagle Ridge Christian suffered a conference loss to Southern Missouri Christian.

Mike Probst tallied 17 points for Eagle Ridge (4-4) while Daniel Ellinghouse and Andrew Mellies both finished with 11.

Ross Whelan scored a game-high 20 points for Southern Missouri.

Southern Missouri pulled steadily away from Eagle Ridge, holding a 28-22 lead at halftime and a 46-33 advantage after three quarters.

Eagle Ridge, 1-1 in the Ozark Christian Athletic Conference, was hurt by 3 of 20 shooting from the foul line.

NEW SALEM 75, PATHWAY 46

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Seth Gaines scored 27 points as New Salem Baptist Academy rolled past Pathway from Blytheville, Ark.

New Salem (3-4) led 26-4 after one quarter and 44-21 at halftime.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

EAGLE RIDGE 53, SOUTHERN MISSOURI 12

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Amber Karnes scored 28 points to lead Eagle Ridge Christian to a conference rout.

Cara Ervin added 10 points for Eagle Ridge (5-2 overall, 2-0 Ozark Christian Athletic Conference).

Eagle Ridge led 10-6 after one quarter and outscored Southern Missouri 18-0 in the second period to take control.

ST. VINCENT 61, ST. PIUS 57

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- St. Vincent outscored St. Pius 8-4 in overtime as the Squaws won their Jefferson County Conference opener.

The Squaws (4-3) were led by Nicole Hadler with 15 points. Also in double figures were Caitlin Hoeh and Chelsey Brown with 12 apiece and Mindy Cattoor with 11.

PATHWAY 40, NEW SALEM 39

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- New Salem Baptist Academy suffered a tough loss to Pathway from Blytheville, Ark.

Sarah Green paced New Salem (2-2) with 18 points while MacKenzie Jones grabbed eight rebounds.

-- From staff reports