TOP SEEDS ADVANCE TO U-HIGH; SCOTT CITY OPENS WITH 96-POINT DEMOLITION

Three of the four top seeds in the 54th annual University High School Christmas Tournament had virtual byes in the first round Saturday.

Only Kelly, the No. 3 seed, survived a scare, but the Hawks were able to pull away in the fourth quarter to manage a 74-63 win over No. 14 Oak Ridge.

In other first-round action during Saturday's early session at the Show Me Center, No. 1 Scott City mauled No. 16 Meadow Heights 118-22; No. 2 Jackson sprinted past No. 15 Chaffee 75-40; and No. 4 Charleston used a third-quarter surge to pull away from No. 13 Delta 68-33.

Monday's quarterfinals will feature Scott City vs. No. 8 Notre Dame at 4:30 p.m.; Jackson vs. No. 7 Scott County Central at 6; Kelly vs. No. 6 Cape Central at 7:30; and Charleston vs. No. 5 Woodland at 9.

Scott City 118, Meadow Heights 22

Jon Beck, who didn't play in the fourth quarter, scored 33 points to lead Scott City (8-0) to its lopsided victory.

The 6-foot senior guard, who has signed with Arkansas State, scored 16 in the first quarter, including four 3-pointers. At halftime, Beck had 27.

The Rams owned a 39-8 lead over Meadow Heights (0-9) after the first quarter. Scott City outscored the Panthers 27-1 in the second quarter to go up 66-9 at halftime.

Also in double figures for the Rams were Luke Sample (23), Ryan Weatherspoon (15), Lance Amick (15), Ricky Keller (11) and Matt Miller (11).

"We only had eight dressed because of injuries," said Scott City coach Derek McCord. "We wanted to get the starters out but we had to leave one or two in. I thought we did a good job defensively."

Josh Mayfield led Meadow Heights with six points.

Jackson 75, Chaffee 40

Jackson had just one player score in double figures -- John Oehl with 12 -- but was still able to overpower Chaffee.

The Indians (6-1) had 11 players score and six scored at least eight points.

Jackson, which hit seven 3-pointers for the game, outscored Chaffee 23-16 in the first quarter and led 41-13 at halftime.

"We had a good early start," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "We shot the ball well early, but we have to do a better job defensively."

Matt Stroup paced Chaffee (0-6) with 14 points. Andy Proffer added 10.

Kelly 74, Oak Ridge 63

The Hawks -- who had three starters in street clothes, including their leading scorer Jim Hulshof -- and the Blue Jays were knotted up at 43 midway through the third quarter.

But the Hawks (7-1), who led just 39-38 at halftime, went on a 13-5 run and entered the fourth quarter leading 56-48.

Aaron Johnson provided a spark for Kelly, leading the Hawks with 18 points off the bench. Russ Mothershead scored 17 points, six of which came at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Kelly made 10 of 13 free throws in the final period.

Also scoring in double figures for Kelly were Daniel Seyer with 13 and Jason Glastetter with 10.

For Oak Ridge (1-6), Eric Hobeck scored 21, Darren Hahs had 15 and Brent Schreiner added 12.

Charleston 68, Delta 32

The Blue Jays couldn't put the pesky Bobcats away until the third quarter, when Charleston outscored Delta 25-8.

Charleston (3-5) led 36-29 with 5:52 left in the third quarter, then finished the game on a 32-3 run.

"We put some fullcourt pressure on them and it speeded up the game," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. "I thought we were a little bit quicker."

"Our kids got out of control," Delta coach Jim Gloth said. "Things just didn't go right for us (in the second half). Right now we're not where we need to be at."

The Bobcats (3-5) scored just two points in the fourth quarter.

Charleston's Jeff Ewing set the tone early, scoring 11 points in the first quarter on his way to 19. Phillip Turner added 12 points.

Delta turned the ball over 24 times during the game, while Charleston turned over just eight times.

Ryan Livingston paced Delta with 16 points.