NMCC pounds Whitfield in Shootout

Notre Dame, Jackson also claim wins

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The New Madrid County Central Eagles posted an impressive victory against Whitfield on Saturday in the Seventh Annual Tiger Shootout, winning 72-45 at Cape Central's Tiger Field House.

The Eagles (9-1) used a 26-10 third quarter run to turn a 10-point lead into a blowout.

NMCC, playing its first game since Dec. 30, led just 16-14 after one quarter, but dominated the game thereafter.

"The first quarter was a little sluggish for us, but our defense really picked up in the second quarter," said NMCC head coach Joby Holland. "We had a big chore today with the (Mike) Oppland boy, but I thought Derrell (Minner) did a good job on him. We got a big lift out of (Ronland) Ranson. He hit the boards real well today and gave us a big lift off the bench. It was a good team effort for us."

Whitfield (7-5), a Class 2A private school out of St. Louis, was playing without star player Dan Oppland, who is a 6-foot-9 center that averages 24 points and 12 rebounds. He sitting on the bench due to illness.

But his twin brother, Mike Oppland, a 6-8 forward, had a game-high 20 points, with nine coming in the first quarter.

Both players are headed to Valparaiso University in Indiana.

"Sure, we missed him on the boards," said Whitfield head coach Frank Johnson of Dan Oppland. "He's a rugged, rebounder type, but I'm not going to say he would have made up a 30-point difference."

Without Oppland, the Eagles dominated the rebounding department.

"Every game our goal is to limit the team to one shot every trip down," said Holland. "We did a good job of blocking out and securing that rebound and that made a big difference."

Other than Mike Oppland, the Eagles contained all of Whitfield players. No other player reached double figures for the Warriors.

NMCC was led by all-state point guard Dereke Tipler with 16 points and several assists. Terrance Smith followed up with 15 points.

The Eagles will host Charleston tomorrow at 6 p.m.

The Jackson Indians improved to 7-6 on the season with a convincing win over a young Jennings squad.

"I thought we showed a lot of character after a hard-fought game last night," said Jackson coach Mike Kiehne, "then competing and drawing away from them."

The score was tied 14-14 after one quarter, but the Indians outscored the Warriors 23-10 in the second quarter to lead 37-24 at the half.

The Indians outscored the Warriors (1-12) 32-27 in the second half to cost to the victory. Seth McDowell led the Indians with 24 points.

"It (Tiger Shootout) very much simulates a final-four situation," said Jennings head coach Randy Carter. "These trips, and playing people from different parts of the state, different styles, different officials are things that you're going to have to deal with in state tournament play. Our whole focus is on preparing our kids for state tournament play, whether it be this year, next year or the following year."

Junior guard Mark Stovall was the only Jennings' scorer in double figures with 17 points.

The Cape Central Tigers fell to 3-10 on the season with a tough loss to a solid Parkway South squad.

First-year head coach Derek McCord is seeing his team show improvement, but his Tigers can't quite get over the hump.

"This is frustrating for me," said McCord. "I've never experienced this. You wish you knew what to say to make them feel better, but night after night we're going against better athletes."

Parkway South (8-7) led by as many as eight in the first quarter and by as many as 12 in the third.

The Tigers trailed just 61-55 with 1:22 to go, but the Patriots went on a 6-2 run to finish the game.

"First off, you have to give Central a lot of credit," said Parkway South coach Tom Sucher. "They're young and they don't quit. When you're up by 12 points, you're not confident because they keep working hard."

Cape Central was led in scoring by Anthony Harris' 12 points. Mitch Craft scored 10 points with eight coming in the fourth quarter.

Chris Lueken led Parkway South with 18 points. He was one of four players in double figures as the Patriots shot 50 percent from the field.

Notre Dame (9-4) got off to a terrible start, but came back to capture the victory over Class 4A Vianney.

The Bulldogs trailed 9-2 to start the game, and played even with the Golden Griffins the rest of the way until the fourth quarter.

"We came out flat, not ready to play," Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott said. "It seems every time I'm nice before the game, I end up having to get in their face to get them going."

Notre Dame didn't score a field goal until midway through the first quarter. Travis Siebert buried two 3-pointers to trim the 9-2 lead to 9-8.

Notre Dame started the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run to lead 47-37.

Sophomore forward Brandon Beal kept the Golden Griffins in it with eight straight points to cut the lead to 47-45 with 1:25 to go. But the Bulldogs were able to hold on for the victory.

Siebert and Doug Schaefer each had 14 points.

Vianney (5-7) suffered its first loss in five years at the Shootout.

Beal led Vianney with 12 points, nine of which came in the fourth quarter.