Tigers lose low-scoring contest vs. NMCC

Central boys basketball coach Drew Church had reason to be happy with his team's defensive play in Friday's SEMO Conference opener against New Madrid County Central.

He wasn't even too disappointed with the offense despite a 33-28 loss to the visiting Eagles.

"We had trouble scoring at times, but we're getting better. We really are," Church said. "They took away our bigs because they had two pretty good big guys inside, so our guards just have to be more aggressive. That comes with experience. They were so concerned with the pressure tonight."

One of Central's big guys, 6-foot-4 senior Rick Russell, led the Tigers with 10 points. Josh Harris added seven.

New Madrid County Central 6-5 junior Kony Ealy led all scorers with 21 points. He hit 10 of 17 free throws, as New Madrid County Central was 13 of 29 as a team, whereas the Tigers were 4 of 13.

"He has good basketball savvy," Church said of Ealy. "I think we frustrated him early."

Ealy had just three points in the first half but scored 18 in the second half, when the Eagles rallied from a 13-7 deficit. They had been held to two points in the second period.

"We wanted to kind of limit their offense and make them take outside shots," Church said. "I think we did a pretty good job executing that. I'm proud of our kids.

"That was a team ranked sixth or seventh in the state [in Class 3], and we stayed with them just by playing hard."

NMCC scored the first eight points of the fourth period to take a 29-22 lead with 1:27 to play. Central closed to within 30-26 with 26 seconds to play, but New Madrid broke the pressure and Ealy was fouled on an alley-oop attempt. He made both free throws with 17 seconds to play to seal the win.

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:NMCC521412--33

Central5896--28

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:NMCC (33) -- Dontre Jenkins 7, G'Darius Stevenson 1, Josh Minner 2, Kony Ealy 21, Terry Young 2. FG 9, FT 13-29, F 18. (3-pointers: Jenkins 1, Ealy 1. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (28) -- Terrance Howard 2, Andrew Williams 5, Josh Harris 7, Kevin Casasola 2, Rick Russell 10, Zach Boerboom 2. FG 11, FT 4-13, F 19. (3-pointers: Williams 1, Harris 1. Fouled out: Boerboom).

Leopold 85, Marquand 32

Larry Nussbaum scored 24 points as the Wildcats (10-2) breezed past Marquand despite a first-minute injury to season-leading scorer Darren VanGennip.

Anthony Seabaugh added 17 points and David Fluchel tallied 11 as 10 Wildcats found the scoring column.

Leopold coach Shawn Kinder said VanGennip sprained his ankle in the opening 30 seconds of the game and is questionable for Leopold's game Tuesday against Meadow Heights.

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Marquand78611--32

Leopold 25242610--85

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:MARQUAND (32) -- Hansmann 2, Brotherton 14, Barnes 2, Greer 2, Cushman 2, Goodman 2, Stallard 2, Cook 6. FG 14, FT 2-5, F 17. (3 pointers: Cook 2, Fouled out: none)

LEOPOLD (85) -- Dustin Thiele 6, Cole Wesbecher, Caleb Wolpers 7, Wade Wiseman 4, David Fluchel 11, Larry Nussbaum 24, Clayton Stoverink 5, Ryan Davis 2, Anthony Seabaugh 17, John Bohnsack 2, Lance Seiler 7. FG 34, FT 17-23, F 9. (3 pointers: none, Fouled out none)

JV -- Leopold won 62-27.

Meadow Heights 66, Woodland 61

The Panthers won their third consecutive game despite the Cardinals hitting 75 percent of their free throws.

Woodland went 24 of 32 from the free-throw line after the Panthers relied heavily on their press.

Derrick Wilfong led Meadow Heights (7-4) with 25 points, while Ethan Mayfield added 17.

Kyle Reynolds led the Cardinals (0-11) with 23 points.

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Meadow Hgts14171817--66

Woodland14141518--61

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:MEADOW HEIGHTS (66) -- Dustin Hubler 6, Derrick Wilfong 25, Tyler Brune 2, Luke Nitsch 4, Ethan Mayfield 17, Zac Hotop 6, Nick Webb 4, Josh Keller 2. FG 29, FT 3-8, F 23. (3-pointers: Wilfong 4, Mayfield 1. Fouled out: Hubler, Tyler Welker)

WOODLAND (61) -- Mitchell Woods 2, Josh Hahn 2, Devon James 2, Corey Chapman 18, Kyle Reynolds 23, Logan McCarty 1, Andrew Minson 13. FG 18, FT 24-32, F 15. (3-pointers: Chapman 1. Fouled out: None)

Kelly 74, Chaffee 57

Ryan Essner pulled down 10 rebounds to go with four points in the Hawks' road win.

Levi Felter did a little of everything, scoring 15 points, dishing out four assists and grabbing eight rebounds for the victors.

Josh DeBrock led Kelly (7-6) with 25 points.

Taimen Taylor paced the Red Devils (2-8) with 15 points.

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Kelly23161520--74

Chaffee5221119--57

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:KELLY (74) -- Ryan Essner 4, Josh DeBrock 25, Levi Felter 15, Dustin Crowden 2, Ross Lasater 2, Zach Essner 12, Eric Turley 14. FG 27, FT 14-23, F 19. (3-pointers: DeBrock 5, Felter 1. Fouled out: Felter)

CHAFFEE (57) -- Trenton Horman 12, Taimen Taylor 15, Collin Dannenmueller 10, Nathan Cicardi 4, Jason Cicardi 3, Mike Rutherford 13,

FG 21, FT 12-21, F 18. (3-pointers: Rutherford. Fouled out: None)

St. Vincent 61, Oran 49

Matt Hotop snared eight rebounds and dumped in eight points to help the Indians to the home win.

Justin L'Hote led St. Vincent (7-4) with 18 points.

Preston Scherer and Nathan Michelsen scored 13 points apiece for the Eagles.

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Oran1313158--49

St. Vincent8191618--61

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:ORAN (49) -- Kurt Rendleman 3, Preston Scherer 13, Jake Carter 9, Mac McConnell 2, Gabe Kielhofner 3, Nathan Michelsen 13, Jon Morrow 6. FG 16, FT 12-16, F 23. (3-pointers: Scherer 3, Rendleman 1, Carter 1. Fouled out: Rendleman, Morrow)

ST. VINCENT (61) -- Justin L'Hote 18, Kyle Rollet 14, Aaron Dzik 12, Shawn Renner 5, Joel Fischer 4, Matt Hotop 8. FG 20, FT 20-28, F 16. (3-pointers: Renner 1. Fouled out: None)

JV -- St. Vincent won 54-27.

Oak Ridge 78, Zalma 71

The Blue Jays rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to pull out the road win.

Garret Light poured in 32 points while Brett Thomas added 23 as Oak Ridge improved to 6-7.

Justin Stotts scored 19 and Stephen Simmers added 18 for the Bulldogs (6-6).

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Oak Ridge16241820--78

Zalma2621816--71

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:OAK RIDGE (78) -- Caleb Elam 10, Garret Light 32, Brett Thomas 23, Ethan Sachs 6, Logan Mangels 3, Stephen Wright 4. FG 28, FT 19-24, F 15. (3-pointers: Elam 2, Mangels 1. Fouled out: None)

ZALMA (71) -- Stephen Simmers 18, Casey Sitze 16, Nick Smith 8, Kevin Walker 7, Andrew Tucker 3, Justin Stotts 19. FG 26, FT 10-14, F 20. (3-pointers: Simmers 3, Sitze 4, Tucker 1, Stotts 1. Fouled out: None)

Saxony Lutheran 74, Marissa-Coulterville 51

The Crusaders reached the championship game of the Chester tournament with their win.

Trevor Mabuce led Saxony Lutheran with 24 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Bryant Steffens hit four 3s and finished with 17 points.

The Crusaders will face New Athens for the title today at 7:30 p.m.

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Saxony17182214--74

Marissa10161411--51

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:SAXONY LUTHERAN (74) -- Trevor Mabuce 24, Chris Roth 12, Bret Steffens 17, Bryant Steffens 17, Garrett Fritsche 3. FG 27, FT 13-22. (3-pointers: Mabuce 2, Bryant Steffens 4, Fritsche 1)

Sikeston 70, Scott City 26

The Bulldogs didn't have standout Michael Porter, but they still picked up the road win.

Shae Simmons led the Rams (6-8) with nine points.

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Sikeston2427136--70

Scott City61136--26

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:SIKESTON (70) -- Niquavious Dixon 11, Daryl Howard 14, Martez Evans 2, Dominic Fondon 6, Will Holifield 9, Cal Lane 14, Eli Jackson 14. FG 33, FT 0-4, F 11. (3-pointers: Holifield 1, Dixon 1. Fouled out: None)

SCOTT CITY (26) -- Skylar Cobb 7, Shae Simmons 9, Caleb Anderson 4, Blake Crail 4, Jake Campbell 2. FG 10, FT 4-7, F 2. (3-pointers: Simmons 1, Cobb 1. Fouled out: None)

JV -- Sikeston won.

GIRLS SWIMMING Rec Center Relays

Jackson finished with 836 points to win the seven-team meet at the Southeast Missouri State Rec Center.

The Indians won the 900 freestyle relay, 300 backstroke relay and 300 butterfly relay.

Notre was second, followed by Central, St. Vincent and Perryville.

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Team scores -- Jackson 836; 2. Notre Dame 812; 3. Central 734; 4. St. Vincent 354; 5. Perryville 316; 6. Parkway Central 274; 7. Poplar Bluff 246

200 freestyle relay -- 1. Notre Dame (Lauren Castleman, Courtney Luehmann, Rachel Henson, Ava Andersson), 1:52.85; 2. St. Vincent (Lizz Brueckner, Kristin Mattingly, Sarah DeWilde, Anna Esswein), 2:05.19; 3. Notre Dame (Samantha Schaefer, Samantha Rellergert, Hilary Schulman, Kayla Essner), 2:05.39

600 medley relay -- 1. Central (Mary Catherine Ford, Shannon Nuyt, Jennifer Willett), 7:28.14; 2. Notre Dame (Brittany Menz, Jackie Bader, Audrey Glover), 7:42.08; 3. Jackson (Mandy Whitlow, Shelby Kate McCord, Sydney Stein), 7:58.93

900 freestyle relay -- 1. Jackson (Stein, McCord, Allison Hobbs), 10:04.68; 2. Central (Jessie Baker, Nuyt, Annie Wolpers), 10:17.63; 3. Notre Dame (Abbie Messmer, Henson, Morgan Morris), 10:50.08

400 medley relay -- 1. Central (Ford, Lizzie Schmidt, Willett, Wolpers), 4:44.21; 2. Jackson (Shay Loughary, Whitlow, Katie Garner, Casey Seabaugh), 4:56.13; 3. Poplar Bluff, 5:46.15

400 freestyle relay -- 1. Central (Ford, Nuyt, Willett, Wolpers), 4:00.91; 2. Jackson (Garner, McCord, Stein, Hobbs), 4:12.20; 3. Notre Dame (Messmer, Jenny Brant, Glover, Morris), 4:16.01

100 freestyle relay -- 1. St. Vincent (Mattingly, Brueckner, S. DeWilde, Esswein), 56.23; 2. Notre Dame (Anna Wren, Eva Schafer, Schaefer, Rellergert), 56.53; 3. Central (Cat Goeke, Abby Kiefner, Sydney Ozbun, Lilli Robinson), 58.49

300 backstroke relay -- 1. Jackson (McCord, Garner, Hobbs), 3:28.41; 2. Central (Ford, Willett, Wolpers), 3:30.31; 3. Notre Dame (Menz, Brant, Bader), 3:32.20

300 butterfly relay -- 1. Jackson (Loughary, Garner, Hobbs), 3:34.41; 2. Notre Dame (Luehmann, Morris, Messmer), 3:37.79; 3. Central (Baker, Ozbun, Schmidt), 3:51.11

300 breaststroke relay -- 1. Central (Baker, Nuyt, Schmidt), 4:02.74; 2. St. Vincent (Esswein, S. DeWilde, Mattingly), 4:06.55; 3. Notre Dame (Glover, Castleman, Henson), 4:07.20

200 medley relay -- 1. Notre Dame (Menz, Glover, Luehmann, Castleman), 2:05.10; 2. Notre Dame (Brant, Messmer, Morris, Bader), 2:14.21; 3. St. Vincent (Hannah DeWilde, S. DeWilde, Brueckner, Esswein), 2:18.98

-- From staff reports