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Class 3, District 1: NMCC takes down East Prairie, Charleston routs Kelly
MALDEN -- With a hard-charging second half, third-seeded New Madrid County Central rolled to a 69-44 win over sixth-seeded East Prairie Saturday in the opening round of the Class 3, District 1 Tournament.
"It's a good way to start," NMCC head coach Travis Day said. "We just have to clean up the little stuff. There was a couple times we had turnovers we probably shouldn't have had.
"Anytime you can start the tournament with a 20-point win you going to take that."
A jump shot from East Prairie senior Damion Tipler tied the game 18-18 early in the second quarter, but it wasn't long after that when NMCC started to take control. Back-to-back baskets from NMCC junior Willie Jimerson put his team back on top and started a 13-0, four minute run.
NMCC pulled out by as many as 16-points with 2:24 left in the half before a 6-2 East Prairie closed the gap down to 12 points entering the break, 38-26.
A bucket by Seth Johnson to start the fourth closed East Prairie within 10 points in the first minute of the second half. NMCC responded by holding East Prairie without a field goal the rest of the quarter.
In just over four minutes NMCC went on a 14-1 to push ahead 52-29 on a Vontre Jones put-back with 2:40 left in the their period. They extended their lead to 24-points entering the fourth quarter and grabbed their first 30-point advantage just 3:11 left in the game.
East Prairie never closed back within 20-points, but ended the game on an 9-4 rally to avoid the turbo-clock.
"The third quarter our pressure started to wear on them and their guards started getting fatigued," Day said. "They just couldn't get the ball where they wanted to.
"That's what you want to see this time of year, just taking pride in getting down and guarding and I think we did that."
NMCC was topped by Jimerson, who finished with 18 points, scoring 14 points in the first half alone. Drew Palmer was second on the team with 14 points.
In his final game with East Prairie Tipler scored a team-high 15 points to reach the 1,000 point mark for his career. The senior came into the contest needed 14 points to set the mark and entered the fourth quarter still seven short.
He went on to score eight points in the period, going 6 of 8 at the free throw line in the final three minutes to set the mark. He finishes his career with 1,001 points.
"It's a special thing," East Prairie head coach Casey Knight said of the mileston. "We actually had three kids from East Prairie do it this year, two girls and Damion. I think the special thing about Damion is he only had two years of varsity. His sophomore year he had the talent to play up, but basically our jayvee that year is our varsity this year so we kept him down. He only played a quarter varsity here and there.
"Scoring 1,000 points in two years is an accomplishment for anybody. I couldn't be more proud of him. It was a struggle, but he got them. He got in there today and hit some shots early. He needed 14 and got 15 so it's a huge accomplishment."
Thought their season came to a close in the opening round of district, this season proved to be a marked turn around for the Eagles' program. They finish the year at 12-12, which is their finish in six years.
"I've told them we've come from the ashes so to speak," Knight said. "We had the most wins in six years and actually tied that record of 2008 when they were 12-12. For the last six years it's been four wins, three wins, five wins. I think there might have been a seven win in there my first year.
"I credit all those guys that have played for me those years. They worked hard, but it takes awhile to build a program and that's what we've done. We're losing one heck of a senior, but that's it. We're continuing to work and I think we can become a team that can play with the New Madrids and Charlestons."
NMCC will play second-seeded Caruthersville in the semifinals Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Malden High School.
| NMCC | 18 | 20 | 19 | 12 | - | 69 |
| East Prairie | 16 | 10 | 7 | 11 | - | 44 |
NMCC (69) -- Willie Jimerson 18, Mikeal Walker 7, Javarcus Word 6, Vontre Jones 4, Drew Palmer 14, Asten Newsome 5, Gage Silman 7, Kiel Causey 4, Deondray Jenkins 2, Grayson York 2. FG 29, FT 10-18, F 22. (3-pointers: Causey 1. Fouled out: none.)
EAST PRAIRIE (44) -- Seth Johnson 5, Seth Bays 6, Dustin Bryars 5, Dylan Lingle 3, Mack Marcum 4, Damion Tipler 15, Deverance Jones 3, Brandon Evans 3. FG 13, FT 15-30, F 14. (3-pointers: Johnson 1, Lingle 1, Tipler 1. Fouled out: Bays.)
Charleston 93, Kelly 43
As expected the top-seeded Charleston Bluejays rolled to a 93-43 win over eighth-seeded Kelly Saturday as they begin their defense of the Class 3, District 1 championship.
Tipping off just 13 hours after their disappointing loss to Poplar Bluff, the Bluejays charged out of the gate to a 33-8 lead and took a 44-point advantage into the break, 60-16. Charleston built their lead 83-31 entering the fourth quarter to cruise to a win.
Delfincko Bogan scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Bluejays while Jamael Nelson and Kelvondre Moore scored 15 points each. Timontrell Horton added 10 points to Charleston's cause.
Josh Roberts led Kelly with 13 points.
Charleston will play fifth-seeded Malden in the semifinal Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Malden High School.
| Charleston | 33 | 27 | 23 | 10 | - | 93 |
| Kelly | 8 | 8 | 15 | 12 | - | 43 |
CHARLESTON (93) -- Kelvondre Moore 15, Robert Bogan 9, Delfincko Bogan 18, Demontrail Clark 9, Shandor Webster 6, Jamael Nelson 15, Jaqueles Biles 4, Austin Hailey 3, Jenerrious Ewing 2, Timontrell Horton 10, Tyler Craig 2. FG 39, FT 5-7, F 7. (3-pointers: Moore 3, Robert Bogan 1, Delfincko Bogan 2, Clark 1, Webster 1, Nelson 1, Hailey 1. Fouled out: none.)
KELLY (43) -- Gaven Ray 4, Maurice Davis 4, Dalton Huffman 4, Josh Roberts 13, Ty Householder 5, Clay Williams 5, Conner Ditlinger 8. FG 17, FT 5-6, F 7. (3-pointers: Roberts 3, Williams 1. Fouled out: none.)
Girls Basketball
East Prairie 66, Charleston 59
The No. 4 Charleston Lady Bluejays fell to fifth-seeded East Prairie 66-59 in the opening round of the Class 3, District 1 Tournament.
The Lady Eagles took a slim 19-16 lead out of the first quarter before outpacing the Lady Bluejays 17-11 in the second period to build a nine-point advantage at halftime.
East Prairie extended their lead to 11 points entering the fourth to hold off a 17-13 push by Charleston in the final frame.
Rebekah Douglas led the Lady Eagles with 27 points while Caitlyn Harwell and Kaitlyn Shands had 20 and 10 points respectively.
Sierra Frazier had a team-high 25 points for the Lady Bluejays. Juwanna Walker and Cheyenne Randle scored 13 and 12 points respectively.
East Prairie will play top-seeded Doniphan tonight at 6 p.m. at Malden High School.
| Charleston | 16 | 11 | 15 | 17 | - | 59 |
| East Prairie | 19 | 17 | 17 | 13 | - | 66 |
CHARLESTON (59) -- Natalie Groves 5, Sierra Frazier 25, Keana Horton 2, Frederica Evans 2, Juwanna Walker 13, Cheyenne Randle 12. FG 21, FT 14-22, F 27. (3-pointers: Frazier 2, Walker 1. Fouled out: Horton, Walker, Randle.)
EAST PRAIRIE (66) -- Rebekah Douglas 27, Dakota Arnold 2, Caitlyn Harwell 20, Kaitlyn Shands 10, Bethany Ferrell 2, Ashley Bard 1, Kali Thurman 4. FG 22, FT 20-32, F 19. (3-pointers: Harwell 2. Fouled out: Harwell.)
NMCC 56, Kelly 52
Thanks to a hot start third-seeded New Madrid County Central downed sixth-seeded Kelly 56-52 in the opening round of the Class 3, District 1 Tournament.
The Lady Eagles came out strong to take a 20-12 advantage after the first quarter. The Lady Hawks closed their deficit to six points at halftime, but still trailed by the same amount starting the fourth.
Kelly outscored the NMCC 15-13 in the final period, but couldn't finish closing the gap.
Whitney Williams led the Lady Eagles with 17 points and Rashaunda Summers contributed 15 points.
For Kelly, Tess Johnson finished with a game-high 19 points.
NMCC will play second-seeded Twin Rivers tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Malden High School.
| NMCC | 20 | 9 | 14 | 13 | - | 56 |
| Kelly | 12 | 11 | 14 | 15 | - | 52 |
NMCC (56) -- Shanterra Waters 8, Monica Davis 2, Amirah Ruff 2, Keisha Rainer 8, Whitney Williams 17, Rashaunda Summers 15, Octavia Smith 4. FG 23, FT 8-20, F 20. (3-pointers: Williams 1, Summers 1. Fouled out: none.)
KELLY (52) -- Morgan LeDure 2, Kaylee Scherer 2, Tessa Johnson 19, Stephanie Worth 8, Victoria Duenne 4, Kristi Brucker 5, Payton Jones 8, Logan Ivie 4. FG 21, FT 9-15, F 17. (3-pointers: Johnson 1. Fouled out: none.)