U-HIGH FAVORITES ROMP IN FIRST ROUND; WOODLAND WINS ONLY CLOSE GAME

After a long day of customary first-round blowouts, the fans at the Show Me Center must have been YEARNING for a close contest to cap the first day of the 53rd annual University High School Christmas Tournament.

Oran and Woodland obliged -- and provided what may be one of the best games of the tournament.

After seven games, each with a final margin of at least 16 points, Greg Lincoln made two free throws with four second remaining and No. 9 Woodland nipped No. 8 Oran 58-57 Friday night.

In other upper-bracket games Friday, No. 1 Charleston outscored No. 16 Leopold 27-0 in the second quarter and won 72-30, No. 4 Scott City handled No. 13 Oak Ridge 77-45 and No. 5 Delta pulled away from No. 12 Advance in the fourth quarter and won 77-60.

In quarterfinal games today, Charleston will play Woodland at 4:30 p.m. and Scott City will meet Delta at 9 p.m.

Oran will face Leopold at 1:30 p.m. and Oak Ridge will play Advance at 9 a.m. in consolation games.

In the day's last game, Oran took its first lead of the game, 57-56, with 35 seconds remaining on Dustin Dannenmueller's 10-footer falling out of bounds.

On Woodland's ensuing possession, Lincoln, a 5-foot-11 senior, drove and was fouled by Travis Friga at the free-throw line. Lincoln hit both shots of the one-and-one, two of his 13 points, with four seconds left.

Oran's Justin Wierman heaved a long 3-pointer at the buzzer that fell well short.

"We had one of our best shooters on the line at the end," said Woodland coach Jennings Wilkinson. "The kids got the ball in his hands with 11 seconds to go, and then when he had the lane opened up, he did what we wanted him to do: drive. Luckily it went our way.

"The fans see these ... lopsided games all day long, and hopefully we were able to entertain them a little bit. I think both teams got after it pretty well, and I hope we gave the fans their money's worth."

Woodland's David Massa, a 5-11 junior, scored 10 of his game-high 16 points in the first quarter as the Cardinals led 15-4 with 2 minutes 7 seconds left in the period. An 8-2 run by Oran made the score 20-13 after one quarter.

The Cardinals led by at least three points throughout the second quarter and led 35-27 at halftime. A basket inside by Jerod Hamm brought Oran with two, 42-40, with 2 minutes 30 seconds left in the third quarter, and Woodland led 46-42 entering the fourth quarter.

Oran tied the game for the second time in the fourth quarter at 55-55 on a jumper by Dannenmueller, who scored 13 points. With 51 seconds left, Massa hit one of two free throws to put Woodland ahead 56-55.

Oran shot 6 of 6 from the field in the fourth quarter and committed only one turnover, but made just 3 of 6 free throws.

Hamm led Oran with 14 points and Friga added 10.

Woodland is now 7-1 while Oran fell to 3-4.

No. 1 Charleston 72

No. 16 Leopold 30

In this 9 a.m. game, it took Charleston a quarter to awake to its top-seeded form.

Once attentive, the Blue Jays dominated.

Charleston (7-1) held just a 10-4 first-quarter lead. The Blue Jays then outscored Leopold 27-0 in the second quarter and led 37-4 at halftime.

Eleven players scored for Charleston. The fantastic guard duo of 5-9 senior Larico Coleman and 5-10 sophomore Howard Biles led the Blue Jays with 13 points each. Romie Whitney added 11 points.

For Leopold (0-7), Donnie Landewee scored a game-high 14 points and John Vandeven tallied 11.

No. 4 Scott City 77

No. 13 Oak Ridge 45

Ryan Weatherspoon, a 6-5 sophomore, scored a game-high 23 points as Scott City cruised past Oak Ridge.

The Blue Jays fared better than they did earlier this season; Scott City beat Oak Ridge by 47 points in a regular season game.

Tim Lowery totaled 13 points for the Rams (8-0), who lost to Cape Central in the championship game of the tournament last year.

Eric Hobeck paced the Blue Jays (1-7) with 10 points.

Scott City scored early and often, tallying a 29-12 first-quarter lead. The Rams led 47-20 at halftime.

No. 5 Delta 77

No. 12 Advance 60

Still a 10-point game after three quarters, Delta's Greg Voelker scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth frame and the Bobcats escaped with a closer win than they might have expected.

Delta (7-1) led 57-47 entering the fourth quarter before outscoring the Hornets 20-13 in the period.

Garrett DeBrock, a 6-3 senior, scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second quarter. Aaron Altenthal added 11 points and Shawn Kinder and Andy Blattel each tallied 10.

For Advance (2-5), Seth Cantrell had 15 points, Tommy Tucker 13 and Gary Ahern 12. No. 9 woodland nipped No. 8 Oran 58-57 Friday night.