Tigers trounce Titans in Charleston 6-Man Shootout

Coming off their first loss of the season, the Cape Central Tigers dominated Confluence Academy 95-67 in the Charleston 6th Man Shootout on Saturday in Charleston.

The Tigers previously lost to Simeon, the No. 1 ranked team in Illinois, last week in the Show-Me Champions Classic, but remain undefeated against Missouri schools.

Senior Cameron Williams led the Tigers with a game-high 28 points including 12-of-17 shooting from the free throw line.

“He saw a lot of double-teams and they were really doing a good job of digging down and making it tough for him,” Cape Central head coach Drew Church said. “But he played strong, he made his passes and he finished with power. And that’s what we needed in a game like this.”

The game started slow with the Tigers on the charity stripe early. The Tigers made 6-of-12 from the free throw line in the first quarter and it took half the period to get to 10 points. Still, the Tigers scored 20 points in the opening period and staved off a rally from the Titans in the second quarter to lead 37-31 in halftime.

“I felt like in the first half we lacked energy and fire,” Church said. “That’s our main conversation at halftime, just have some fire and compete.”

Cape Central put its foot on the gas and floored it to start the second half. The Tigers scored 30 points in the third quarter to take control of the game with a 67-49 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“I thought the third quarter especially, we rebounded and actually got down in transition,” Church said.

Freshman Marquel Murray scored only two points in the first half on a pair of free throws. In the second half, he scored nine points in the third quarter and six points in the fourth quarter to finish with 17 points.

“He’s almost been a little too unselfish, instead of taking the shot that’s there or driving and attacking the rim,” Church said.

Freshman TySeanDre Edwards and junior Jaydon Reynolds each scored 10 points for the Tigers.

“Both our freshmen have really improved over the last three months,” Church said. “They’ve given us big minutes when we needed them.”

Darric Williford led the Titans with 26 points, including 10-of-13 from the free throw line, followed by 21 points from Serjacob Lewis, who also made three 3-pointers.

“We still had trouble containing their two guards,” Church said. “They’re really quick.”

The Tigers (20-1) travel to Sikeston on Friday.

__Charleston 79, Hazelwood Central 71__

Charleston capped off the 6th Man Shootout with a 79-71 win over Hazelwood Central. The Blue Jays have won 10 straight games to improve their record to 17-5.

The Blue Jays lived on the charity stripe, shooting 53 free throws and making 29 of them. The Hawks also shot 30 free throws, which is also among the highest in the entire event.

Ko’Terrion Owens led the Blue Jays with 21 points including 9-of-14 from the free throw line. Rico Coleman scored 18 points, PJ Farmer scored 16 points and Almareion Williams chipped in 12 points.

The Blue Jays scored 15 points in both the first and second quarter but found themselves down 38-30 at halftime.

Charleston charged back in the third quarter and tied the game 43-43 on a dunk by Coleman, causing the crowd to erupt with excitement.

Charleston was still trailing Hazelwood 55-50 going into the fourth quarter. The Blue Jays scored 29 points in the final period as Farmer and Owens combined to score 23 points. The Blue Jays spent much of the fourth quarter on the free throw line, shooting 11-of-21.

Charleston travels to Jackson on Monday for a rescheduled game. The Blue Jays have lost the previous two meetings against the Indians.

__New Madrid County Central 69, Lift for Life 44__

BJ Williamson scored a game-high 21 points to lead New Madrid County Central to a 69-44 win over Lift for Life in the Charleston 6th Man Shootout.

Jadis Jones scored 16 points for the Eagles and Brayden Newson chipped in 13 points.

The Eagles held the Hawks to 10 points in the first and second quarter. Powered by Williamson’s three 3-pointers, the Eagles scored 24 points in the second quarter to go to halftime up 41-20.

Both teams scored 16 points in the third quarter but the Eagles held the Hawks to a single basket and six free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Odis Grissom led the Hawks with 17 points and Dennis Olds scored 12 points.

New Madrid (13-7) travels to Caruthersville on Tuesday.

__Sikeston 100, Meridian 42__

Sikeston became the only team in the 12-team Charleston 6th Man Shootout to reach the century mark with a 100-42 victory over Meridian, Ill. The Bulldogs have won seven straight and improved to 15-4 on the season.

Dontrez Williams led the Bulldogs with a game-high 19 points. Kobe Thomas scored 16 points, Ben James finished with 12 points, and Tristan Wiggins scored 10 points and four assists. Sophomore Lekereon McCray had a team-high five assists and three steals to go with his six rebounds.

Creighton Sarakas sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 26-8 first-quarter lead. The Bobcats out-scored the Bobcats 29-6 behind Thomas’ nine points in the second quarter to lead 55-14 at halftime.

Sikeston out-scored Meridian 26-14 in the third quarter behind Williams’ eight points to extend the lead to 81-28. James scored all of his points in the fourth quarter to help the Bulldogs to seal the win.

Sikeston will host Dexter in a rescheduled game on Monday. It will be the Bulldogs’ first home game since Dec. 19.

__Thayer 79, Notre Dame 56__

Notre Dame made seven baskets from the 3-point line but it wasn’t enough in a 79-56 loss to Thayer in the Charleston 6th Man Shootout.

Kolton Johnson and Brett Dohogne each led the Bulldogs with 12 points, and Reece Callow scored 11 points. Greg Dennis (6), Trenton Schumacker (5), Will Morgan (4), Logan Landewee (2), Will Henry Steward (2), and Brock Clippard (2) rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs.

Aidan Burns and Devin Harrington each scored a game-high 23 points for the Bobcats.

Despite Johnson scoring eight points in the first quarter, the Bulldogs were outscored in every period. The Bobcats scored 24 points in the second quarter to lead the Bulldogs 42-25 at halftime.

Most of Callow’s scoring came on three-pointers in the second half, including two in the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame (7-12) has lost three straight games. The Bulldogs have a chance to finish the regular season in a better position for the Class 4 District 1 Tournament with three of the final four games at home. The Bulldogs host Hillsboro on Tuesday.

__Notre Dame 54, Thayer 38__

The Notre Dame girls' basketball team kicked off the Charleston 6th Man Shootout with a 54-38 win over Thayer. The Lady Bulldogs (15-3) have won three straight games.

Brie Rubel, Anna Garner, and Nevaeh Lucious led the Lady Bulldogs with 12 points each. Kate Rubel scored nine points, Tori Rubel scored seven and Eliza Barnette rounded out the scoring with a bucket of her own.

The Note Dame made four shots from the three-point line and 4-of-9 (.540) from the free throw line. Thayer made 6-of-10 (.600) from the charity stripe and two shots from beyond the arc.

Madalyn Donahue and Hadley Meyer led Thayer with 10 points apiece. Eight of Meyer’s points came in the first quarter, while Donahue scored six points in the second quarter to power the Lady Bobcats in the first half.

Brie Rubel and Garner combined to shoot three 3-pointers to push the Bulldogs to a 15-12 first-quarter lead. Garner scored seven of the Bulldogs’ 17 second-quarter points to extend the lead to 32-28 going into halftime.

Notre Dame scored 11 points in each of the final two quarters while holding Thayer to 16 points in the second half to secure the win.

Notre Dame travels to Dexter on Monday for a SEMO Conference tilt.