SEMO Conference: Efficient Charleston tops Notre Dame, advances to consol final

Charleston got its second recent boy’s basketball victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday in the semifinal of the consolation round of the SEMO Conference Tournament at the Sikeston Field House courtesy of an efficient offensive attack that, particularly in the opening period, was something to behold.

The Blue Jays took an early 25-17 lead and eventually earned a 71-55 victory to advance to Friday’s consolation championship game against Jackson, which fell in overtime to Poplar Bluff.

“Offensively,” Blue Jay coach Jamarcus Williams said following the game, “I thought we were playing really well.”

That margin in the opening eight minutes evolved in a myriad of ways, from pressure defense resulting in runouts, to jumpers, and often, from tough finishes around the basket.

“I don’t like missed lay-ups in practice,” Williams said. “I can’t stand missed, uncontested lay-ups.”

Twenty of those 25 points were the result of stellar play from senior forward Ko’Terrion Owens (nine points in the opening period) and junior guard Tayshon Clark, who put in 11 of his game-high 26 points in the quarter.

The two combined to finish the period in fantastic fashion, as Owens pulled down a rebound in the closing seconds of the period and threw a long chest pass ahead of a streaking Clark, who laid the ball in at the buzzer.

“I’m going to turn Tayshon into a leader,” Williams said of the emerging young player, who has just four varsity games of experience.

Charleston (4-1) knocked down 66 percent of its shots and an amazing 7 of 13 shots from 3-point range (54 percent).

As happy as Williams was while watching the offensive end of the floor, he wasn’t smiling as much when focused on the defensive end of the court.

Notre Dame (1-3), which fell to the Blue Jays in Cape Girardeau last week 66-52, buried eight 3-pointers, including six from sophomore Kolton Johnson.

“They were getting a whole bunch of open shots,” Williams said. “I thought our zone (defense) was a little flat, so in the second half, we switched to man (defense), just to make ourselves have to move more and get out of the habit of sitting in one spot.”

The Bulldogs played the Blue Jays evenly through the second and third periods before Charleston began to draw fouls and get to the free-throw line late in the game (Charleston shot eight free throws in the final period) to seal the win.

Clark, who hit 10 of his 14 shots, added three assists and as many steals.

Owens added 16 points to go with 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Freshman Treshaun Schandon chipped in 14 points and three rebounds in the win while junior Deshaun Henderson had eight points.

Johnson matched Clark’s 26 points while sophomore forward Brett Dohogne had 16 points for the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame will travel to Central (Park Hills) (1-0) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.