Charleston avenges only loss with convincing win

CHARLESTON - The Class 3, No. 1 ranked Charleston Bluejays avenged their only loss of the season with an impressive 63-49 win against Jackson on Tuesday at Charleston High School.

The Bluejays (17-1, 5-0 SEMO Conference) lost to Jackson in the seMissourian Christmas Tournament, but there would be no upset this time.

Charleston never trailed in the game and they were able to maintain a double-digit lead through most of the second half.

"We came out and played with a lot of intensity," said Charleston head coach Danny Farmer. "We put a lot of pressure on them. The difference in this game and the last game was we played a lot better offensively tonight. Our defense made them rush some shots. I thought we played well."

Charleston junior Ashton Farmer, who scored only two points in the first meeting with Jackson, had a game-high 21 points with six rebounds and four second half slam dunks.

"I'm not so sure we shut him down that first time," said Jackson head coach Mike Kiehne. "I think he wasn't quite as aggressive offensively in that first game at the Show Me Center. Tonight he was ready to go and it meant a world of difference to his team. He didn't make a ton of defensive plays, but he changed a lot by being there and being athletic."

Farmer's presence in the middle and a swarming Bluejay defense helped contain the post combo of Tyler McNeely and Jason Schafer, who combined for just 20 points.

"McNeely is good when he can put a body on you and spin around," said Farmer. "We wanted to get off of him and make him shoot over us. He had some difficulty shooting over us."

Charleston jumped out to a 15-11 lead after one quarter.

In the second quarter, Jackson trailed 32-23 and were holding for a final shot in the waning seconds of the half.

But Charleston's Joshua Strayhorn came up with a steal and finished off the fast break with a one-handed jam just before the buzzer sounded to give the Bluejays a 34-23 lead.

"That's a big momentum shift," said Kiehne. "You got a chance to cut it to seven and then you go in and it's 11. That's huge."

The Bluejays took the momentum and ran with it in the third quarter. The Indians hit four 3-pointers in the third quarter but got no closer than eight points.

Farmer threw down three slams in the third quarter as Charleston's guards were able to get him some easy layups.

"That's part of our game," said Farmer. "What happened on a lot of those dunks was because our guards would penetrate, they would try to double, and we would pass it down. (Ashton) was fired up. Last time he didn't score but two points. He was out to prove that he was ready to play tonight."

Charleston led 49-39 after three quarters.

Jackson got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

"We normally come out slow but we came out ready to play tonight," said Farmer. "The kids, they've been waiting on revenge. They felt they should've won the Christmas Tournament and we didn't do it. We were ready."

Strayhorn finished with 15 points. Trentez Lane added six points, six assists and four steals. Marcus Biles had 10 points, four assists and two steals.

Freshman Jamarcus Williams had eight rebounds.

Charleston will play at Kelly on Friday in a makeup game at 6 p.m.

Jackson (17-4, 3-2 SEMO) will host Farmington at 6 p.m.

Charleston won the junior varsity game 68-51.

Bluejay freshman Justin Clark had scored 26 of his 30 points in the first half, including five 3-pointers.