Charleston set to play for fifth place

BROSELEY -- The Lady Bluejays were able to play fast in the second half.

That enabled Charleston to catch up to the Greenville Lady Bears on Friday night at the Twin Rivers Holiday Classic Tournament on Friday night and come away with a close 58-55 win.

"We played slow in the first half and played fast in the second half," Charleston head coach Michael Minner said. "Fast is how we have to play to be successful."

Greenville knew that coming into the game as they slowed the pace of the game and grabbed an early 16-9 lead after the first quarter.

Both teams put up 11 points in the second quarter as the Lady Bears took a 27-20 lead into the break.

"We kind of sat there and let them put us to sleep in the first half and we didn't get after it," Minner said. "That was the kind of game that they (Greenville) wanted us to get into and we bit on it. We turned it around though in the second half and played hard."

The Lady Bluejays outscored Greenville 18-14 in the third quarter and 20-14 in the fourth.

Charleston's Jerquawnda Sherrell and Cedrica Rodgers began to sink 3-pointers in the second half that would be a big lift as well. They combined for five 3-point baskets in the second half alone. Rodgers hit three which on of them gave the Lady Bluejays a two-point lead towards the end of the third quarter and Sherrell hit two. Sherrell's second 3-pointer extended Charleston's lead to four points, 46-42, in the fourth quarter.

Sherrell led the Lady Bluejays with 22 points. Rodgers finished with 11 while freshman Kasuela Cooper added 6 points but perhaps more importantly she pulled down 12 rebounds in the process.

Greenville's Tara Porter scored a game-high 32 points with almost half coming from the charity stripe. She sank 15-of-26 free throws as Charleston committed 20 fouls in the game.

Porter also pulled down eight rebounds, had four steals and blocked three shots. Kaylin Becker added 15 points and led the Lady Bears with 10 rebounds.

Charleston played the Kennett Lady Indians on Saturday for the fifth place trophy. Results from that game will be in the Monday edition of the Standard Democrat.

Twin Rivers 76, NMCC 46

The New Madrid County Central Lady Eagles saw their Lady Royals Classic come to an end at the hands of host Twin Rivers in a consolation semifinal Friday afternoon.

NMCC trailed only 32-25 at the half but Twin Rivers stretched their lead to 52-38 after three before pulling away in the fourth quarter.

NMCC was led in scoring by junior Shameika Williams' 30 points. Jasmine Flennoy added 10.

Twin Rivers, who took on Neelyville in the consolation final on Saturday, was led by Torey Davis who put in 27 for the Lady Royals. Staphanie Jennings added 13 while Chelsea Crain scored 12.

Neelyville 65, Doniphan 45

The fourth-seeded Neelyville Lady Tigers overcame a slow start to defeat Doniphan 65-45 in a consolation semifinal Friday afternoon.

Doniphan jumped out to a 16-11 lead after one quarter but Neelyville battled back to take a 26-21 halftime lead. The Lady Tigers then used a strong third quarter to put away the Donettes.

Neelyville was led in scoring by Lindsey Emerson, who finished with 20 points. Jessica Uhl and Brittany McElhaney scored 14 and 12 respectively.

Doniphan was led by Erin Pennington's 15 points.

Kennett 41, Clearwater 35

The Kennett Lady Indians rallied from a 19-7 halftime deficit in their fifth place semifinal to defeat Clearwater in overtime 41-35.

The Lady Indians were ignited by Hope Sparks, who hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to give Kennett a 31-30 lead. A free throw by Clearwater tied the game and Kennett had several shots as time expired but none fell. However, with Clearwater's leading scorer, Lindsay Bell, on the bench after fouling out, Kennett used a full-court press to force numerous Lady Tiger turnovers in overtime, securing the win in the process.

Jerica Wheeler led Kennett with 13 points while Sharika Walls had 10 and Sparks 8. Clearwater was led by Bell's 13 and Emily Miller's 12.