U-HIGH TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS SET; JACKSON 'HOLDS' JOHNSON TO 32 POINTS, UPENDS SCOTT CENTRAL

Third-seeded Jackson got a bit of a scare early against sixth-seeded Scott County Central, but the Indians got their act together to earn a 80-61 victory Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the Bank of Missouri University High School Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center.

Jackson will face No. 2 Scott City at 7:30 tonight in the semifinals while Scott Central will play Cape Central at 4:30 p.m. in the fifth-place semifinals.

The Indians started out hot, going on a 10-0 run for the first three minutes that was finally broken by none other than Jreece Johnson. The first quarter ended with Jackson leading16-14.

"We got off to a good start," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "They answered with Jreece Johnson and by doing a good job on the boards. We need to be more physical on rebounding."

Midway through the second quarter, the Braves clawed their way back to tie the game 18-18, thanks to a shot by Johnson.

The second eight minutes turned out to be uneventful for the Braves, however -- Scott Central could only sink two of 16 shots -- and the Indians took a 33-20 halftime lead. Jackson extended its lead to 57-36 after three quarters.

Jackson's 6-foot-5 center, John Oehl, led the way with 19 points. Levi Bollinger and Tory Meyr added 14 points each.

Johnson, the Braves' 5-11 senior who had scored a tournament record 49 points Monday against Kelly, came back to nail down a game-high 32 points against Jackson. Todd Blissett added 11.

"He (Johnson) played the entire game against Kelly," said Scott Central coach Steve Wells. "He may have been a little tired tonight. I think he, like the rest of the team, may be fighting the flu bug that's going around. I would never use that as an excuse for our loss, however."

The key to Jackson's victory may have been a combination of its ability to defeat Scott Central's defensive pressure -- the Indians shot 51 percent from the floor -- while holding the Braves shooting to 42 percent.

"Jackson played a lot better defensively than Kelly," said Wells. "Not to take anything away from Kelly, but Jackson contained Jreece and the rest of our team pretty well tonight."

Scott City may prove to be a more difficult challenge for Jackson, and Burk knows it.

"Scott City has a nice club," said Burk. "In looking at Scott City, everyone thinks of Ryan Weatherspoon first, but Ronald Watson can shoot and Ben Sample is a heck of an offensive player as well. They are well coached and we'll have our hands full."