Jackson upsets Charleston

~Technical foul, missed free throws doom 'Jays

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Charleston fell from the ranks of the undefeated on Monday night, losing 46-44 to red-hot Jackson in the semifinal round of the seMissourian Christmas Tournament.

The Indians have now won 10 straight heading into tonight's championship game against Cape Central.

"It kind of shows Southeast Missouri that we can play some basketball," said Jackson coach Mike Kiehne. "Nobody really knew that at the beginning of the season. We lost our first game and even slipped out of the rankings in the Southeast Missouri poll. The kids took that to heart.

"Tonight, it was just a game of perseverance from my guys. We got down 20-9 in the first half, but didn't get rattled. We made some free throws to keep us in the game, then in the second half, we had some guys step up and make some big plays."

Charleston (9-1) had several chances to avoid the upset, but missed three crucial foul shots late and were hit with a backbreaking technical foul with just seconds left in regulation.

"We haven't been hitting our free throws, and I've been telling the kids, if you don't hit your free throws in a close game, you're not going to win it," said Charleston coach Danny Farmer. "I think that was the difference in the game."

The Bluejays held a two-point lead with 25.7 seconds left when point guard Marcus Biles was whistled for a technical, after arguing a call made by the official.

Jackson's Jack Puisis hit 1-of-2 free throws to shave the lead down to one. The Indians then inbounded the ball and bled the clock down to seven seconds.

Puisis scored on a tough, off-balanced turnaround jumper to put the Indians up 45-44 with just four seconds left.

"We were running just a regular set play that we had run all game," explained Kiehne. "We were actually going for (Tyler) McNeely. I told the guys (Charleston) knew we were going to him, and if they overplay that, somebody is going to have to come up and hit a shot. We didn't get it to Tyler, but Jack saw a seam to penetrate. Tyler kind of sealed off that backside there and allowed him to get a little bit of a look. It just worked out for us."

Following a quick timeout, Charleston threw the ball the length of the court. The ball tipped off the fingers of Ashton Farmer and into the hands of freshman Jamarcus Williams.

Williams threw up a 3-pointer that was off its mark. Joshua Strayhorn pulled down the rebound, but was called for over-the-back on Jackson's Brad Eaton.

"To be honest, I thought it was a foul on Jackson for going up under him," said Farmer. "But the official thought he was boxing out, and (Strayhorn) jumped over his back."

Eaton sank one free throw to make it 46-44. Charleston attempted a baseball pass at the buzzer, but it was tipped by a Jackson defender, ending the game.

After all the smoke had cleared, Farmer wasn't blaming the loss on the ill-timed technical.

"If we had made our free throws, it would have never come down to a technical foul," he said. "You need to lose sometime -- that was a good loss for us. Hopefully we can learn from this and come back to be a better team."

Biles led Charleston with 18 points and Trentez Lane contributed 10. Second-team all-stater Ashton Farmer was held to just two points.

The Bluejays will take on Scott City in the third place game tonight at 6 p.m.

For Jackson, McNeely scored 13 and Nick Fiehler added 10.

The Indians (10-1) will play Cape Central in the finals tonight at 7:30 p.m.

"We know we are going to have to play well to beat Cape," said Kiehne. "After an emotional win like this, it's going to be tough to bounce back. We're going to have to do a lot of things right."

Eli Harris scored 22 points, Ryan Delph had 17 and Scott Chestnutt added 12 as Cape Central beat Scott City 70-65 in Monday's other semifinal game.

The Tigers jumped out to a 24-11 lead but saw Scott City answer with a 24-13 run in the second quarter.

Cape outscored the Rams 33-30 in the second half to pull out the five-point victory.

For Scott City, Tyler Ward scored 22, Mark Dannenmueller had 21 and Mark Johnston added 10.

Cape will play Jackson for the championship tonight at 7:30 p.m. Scott City will play Charleston for third place at 6 p.m.

Dominitrix Johnson hit a shot at the buzzer, lifting Bell City to a 61-59 win over Notre Dame in the fifth place bracket.

Johnson led the Cubs with 18 points, followed by Blaine Stewart with 17 and Randy Conn with 13.

For Notre Dame, Bryce Willen scored 21, John Klein had 14 and Alex Ressel had 13.

Bell City will play Advance for the fifth place title tonight at 4:30 p.m.

Daryl Wade scored 18 points and Jeremy Limbaugh added 16 as Advance beat Scott County Central 59-54 in the fifth place bracket.

The Hornets trailed going into the fourth, but outscored the Braves 12-3 in the final frame to pull out the victory.

Chris Pullen scored 16 for Scott Central and Ray Rogers had 10.

Advance will play Bell City for the fifth place title tonight at 4:30 p.m.

Zack Kelley scored 27 points, leading Delta to a 90-83 overtime win over Meadow Heights in the consolation bracket.

Behind Kelley, Kevin Bartels scored 23, Brent Menz had 21 and Cody Crowden added 13.

Meadow Heights was led by Brad Adams with 37 and Anthony Bollinger with 13.

Delta will play Woodland for the consolation title tonight at 3 p.m.

Chad Hulvey scored 19 points and Travis Benfield finished with 10 as Woodland beat Kelly in the consolation bracket, 51-49.

The Cardinals trailed 23-18 in the first half, but came back to outscore the Hawks 12-8 in the third, then 19-18 in the fourth.

Kelly was led by Kendal Deason with 16 and Chris Romas with 11.

Woodland will play Delta in the consolation finals tonight at 3 p.m.