TIGERS NET WIN ON RARE ROAD TRIP

PORTAGEVILLE -- Playing their first true road game since before Christmas, Cape Girardeau Central High's basketball Tigers disposed of Portageville 64-52 Tuesday night.

Lavelle Lewis scored 23 points and Nathan Owen added 17 for the Tigers, who improved their record to 15-3.

Portageville, which fell to 9-6, got 14 points from both Gerald Pickering and Richie Garmon. Brett Smith added 11.

"For our first road game since before Christmas, I thought we played pretty well," said Central coach Brett Reutzel. "They tried to slow the tempo down but I thought we did a pretty good job of guarding them.

"We ran our zone offense very well. I was really impressed with that. Their zone didn't bother us much and that's been a thorn in our side."

The Tigers led just 15-13 after one quarter but they opened up a 31-24 halftime lead. Portageville hung tough in the second half but could never seriously threaten Central.