Charleston, Oran win easily

CHARLESTON - The Charleston Bluejays improved to 16-1 on the season with a 78-51 win against SEMO Conference foe Kennett on homecoming night on Friday.

Charleston led just 30-23 at the half but exploded in the third and fourth quarter to put the game away.

The Bluejays out-scored Kennett 48-28 in the second half.

"We have a tendency to come out slow," said Charleston head coach Danny Farmer. "I didn't think we played very well in the first half, but we really turned it on after halftime. We came out a little flat. But I was happy with the outcome. We really turned it on."

Charleston got a game-high 22 points out of Ashton Farmer. Marcus Biles had 16 points and Joshua Strayhorn added 10 points.

Kennett was led by Danny Ragsdale's 14 points.

"We started putting more pressure on them and we turned the defense up and got some steals," said Farmer. "They tried to slow the game down, but we were able to speed it up with some pressure."

Charleston will host Jackson on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

RISCO -- The Risco Tigers picked up a conference win Friday night downing the Southland Rebels 66-56.

Leading 35-29 at the half, the Tigers jumped out to a 54-38 lead and then held off a fourth quarter Southland rally to get the win.

"This was a good, solid win for us," said Risco coach Brandon Blankenship. "Southland is a tough bunch. They are very patient on offense and lull you to sleep. They make it tough for you to get going. We really needed this win."

Risco was led in scoring by Andrew Halford's 25 points while Darren Martin finished with 14.

With the win the Tigers are now 8-8 and travel to North Pemiscot in a Tri-County match-up Tuesday.

POPLAR BLUFF - Ryan Delph scored 23 points but it was not enough to help short-handed Central avoid its first SEMO Conference loss on Friday night.

The state-ranked Poplar Bluff Mules led from wire to wire in a 76-42 decision played in front of a standing-room only crowd for homecoming. The Tigers (15-4, 2-1 SEMO) turned the ball over in each of their first three possessions, helping Poplar Bluff (13-6, 2-0 and No. 9 in Class 5) open with a 7-0 run. The Mules never looked back.

All-state center Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 points. Anthony Gilberto led the Mules with 18 points.

Central had more turnovers than field goals in the first half and trailed 50-18 at the break.

The Tigers, who were without Scott Chestnutt, Will Johnson and Mitch Craft, due to suspension, as well as junior Eli Harris and senior Alex Espinoza due to knee injuries, got eight points from sophomore Garrett Ozbun.

Delph's strong night left him 11 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

-- Daily American Republic

DELTA -- Brent Menz tossed in 18 points, including two 3-pointers, to lead Delta past Saxony Lutheran at home on Friday night.

Menz, a junior guard, also earned praise from first-year Delta coach Shawn Kinder for his defensive work.

"He did a good job defending their point guard tonight," Kinder said. "He held Trey Maevers, who does a nice job as a sophomore, to six points.

Zack Kelley scored 18 and Kevin Bartels added 15 points for the Bobcats (12-5). Sophomore Tim Lorenz scored 17 points to lead the Crusaders (11-2), while Lauren Lueders added 13 points, including two 3-pointers.

-- Southeast Missourian

HAYTI -- First-year Scott City coach Lance Amick had a lot to be impressed by Friday night.

Junior Mark Dannenmueller scored 29 points, including three 3-pointers, and dished out eight assists.

Senior Tyler Ward posted a triple-double with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 18 blocked shots. Amick's team improved to 14-3. But what really left an impression on the coach were his team's fans.

"It was amazing how many people we had travel all the way down to Hayti," Amick said.

They saw the Rams bolt away from Hayti in the second and third quarters, outscoring the home team 30-14 over that span.

-- Southeast Missourian

LEOPOLD -- Oran snapped Leopold's five game winning streak with a win on the road. Matt Seyer led Oran with 21 points. Garrett Roslen had 13 and David Ausmus added 12. Lucas Horrell led Leopold (7-8) with 12, Brandon Bueter had 11 and AJ Seiler had 10.

-- Southeast Missourian