By DONN ADAMSON
Daily Journal Sports Editor

Published: Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Updated: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 11:09 AM CST

PARK HILLS  — The first four games on Tuesday in the 2008 Bob Sechrest, Jr. Central Christmas Tournament were elimination games with only the winners earning the right to play one more game on the final day of the tournament.

The two consolation semi-finals saw Arcadia Valley and Herculaneum advance to play each other today at noon, and the fifth-place semis resulted in South Iron and Herculaneum to square off at 1:30 p.m. for that honor.

Arcadia Valley 57, Central 38

A three-point, second quarter spelled doom for the Central Rebels as they fell far behind the Arcadia Valley Tigers and were unable to recover for a 57-38 defeat.

The Rebels could not buy a basket in the second quarter as they made only one field goal out of nine attempts, and the Tigers poured it on, making 6-13 from the floor. Two putbacks gave the Tigers a 10-point lead early in the quarter, and a technical foul by the Rebels started an 8-0 run for the Tigers to finish out the half.

The Tigers gained the early lead with a nine-point first quarter by Erick Lindsey. The scoring baton was passed to Brock Walker in quarter two as Walker scored eight to lead the Tigers in the second quarter.

Gaining a 17-point lead at the half, the Tigers opened fire from the perimeter in the second half scoring five three-pointers which the Rebels had no answer, making only one of their own.

Chris Robbs led a quadruplet of double-digit scorers for the Tigers with three threes for 13 points. Lindsey had 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals to go with his 11 points. Blake Walker finished with 12 points and Brock Walker scored 11.

Preston Harlow and Jeremiah Jones led the Rebels with 10 points each and Jones also led in rebounds with eight.

Central  10 3 10 15 - 38

Arcadia Valley  14 16 13 14 - 57

Scoring:

Central - Harlow 10, Je. Jones 10, Martin 8, Cunningham 8, Jennings 2.   3-pt. FG - Harlow.

Arcadia Valley - Robbs 13, Bl. Walker 12, Br. Walker 11, Lindsey 11, Spitzmiller 4, Poole 3, Goodwin 3.   3-pt. FG - Robbs 3, Bl. Walker, Goodwin, Poole.

Herculaneum 57, West County 54

In a see-saw battle, the West County Bulldogs had the ball out-of-bounds at half-court with less than three-seconds and down by only three points. The inbound pass missed its mark and the Herculaneum Blackcats secured the ball and a 57-54 win in the process.   

Holding a four-point lead to start the fourth quarter, the Blackcats made 7-10 free throws going down the stretch, but could not shake a very accurate three-point shooting Bulldog team. The Blackcats made 19 free throws out of 30 attempts in the game.

West County already had five three-pointers under their belt and that threat continued into the last quarter as Trever Morgan found his mark from on top for two more threes.

His second three became costly for the Bulldogs even though they got four points on the play. Morgan, who scored eight points all in the fourth quarter, was fouled on the play, but came up limping and unable to shoot the penalty shot. Cole Holbert made it for him. Morgan returned later to finish out the game.

Torey Watson took over the final scoring for the Bulldogs with the team’s last four points. Watson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 19 and rebounds with eight.

Drew Achter, who made 8-10 free throws, led the Blackcats in scoring with 18 points. Key to Herculaneum’s maintaining their lead was an eight point run in the third quarter by 6’4” Andrew Harrison inside the paint.

West County  11 18 11 14 - 54

Herculaneum  13 13 18 13 - 57

Scoring:

West County - Harlow 19, Holbert 10, Stacy 8, Morgan 8, McKee 5, Kean 2, Nettles 2.  3-pt. FG - Stacy 2, Morgan 2, Holbert, McKee.

Herculaneum - Achter 18, Harrison 10, Washburn 8, Ramsey 8, Plager 5, Martinez 3, LaBrayere 3, Southern 2.  3-pt. FG - Plager.

Potosi 57, Ste. Genevieve 56, OT

The Potosi Trojans had only made one three-pointer in regulation which came in the first quarter, but it would be a three-pointer by Zach Gibson from the left corner with very few seconds left in overtime that gave the Trojans the winning margin for a 57-56 win over the Genevieve Dragons.

Tied at 50-50 to end the fourth quarter, the two teams tied again at 52, and the Dragons took advantage of Potosi turnovers to go on a four-point mini-run with time running out. Landon Young made a steal and drove the length of the floor to cut the lead in half.

A second turnover gave the Trojans the opportunity for Gibson’s three.

The Trojans held a 11 point lead going into the fourth quarter, but Brock Meyer and Josh Meyer both hit a pair of three-point shots for the Dragons to bring the game to a tie. Brock Meyer finished with 14 points and Josh Meyer made four threes in the game for 12 points.

Kory Faulkner led the Dragons in scoring with 22 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds.

Tyler Shepard led Potosi in scoring with 17 points, and Gibson finished with 11.

Ste. Genevieve  11 12 8 19 6 - 56

Potosi  16 14 12 8 7 - 57

Scoring:

Ste. Genevieve - Faulkner 22, Br. Meyer 14, Jo. Meyer 12, Roth 7, Pfaff 1.   3-pt. FG - Jo. Meyer 4, Br. Meyer 2.

Potosi - Shepard 17, Gibson 11, Belfield 10, Young 9, Breakfield 4, Rulo 2, Hampton 2, Eye 2.   3-pt. FG - Young, Gibson.

South Iron 51, Perryville 37

The South Iron Panthers made amends for their Monday night loss in the quarterfinals with a 51-37 win over the Perryville Pirates in their fifth-place semi-final game on Tuesday.

The Panthers had four players score in double figures as they increased their lead constantly throughout the game.

The Pirates were able to hang close in the first quarter, even leading by two at the break, but the Panthers lit it up from beyond the arc with four three-pointers in the second quarter with Jared Middleton and Cody Smith both recording a pair.

A low-scoring third quarter left the Pirates further behind with only a three by Ben Prevallet and a basket by Tyson Brown for their five points. Prevallet led Perryville in scoring with 12 points.

South Iron  11 22 9 9 - 51

Perryville  13 12 5 7 - 37

Scoring:

South Iron - Middleton 12, Sutton 11, Smith 10, Ford 10, Cornell 4.  3-pt. FG - Smith 3, Middleton 2.

Perryville - Prevallet 12, Roth 10, Brown 8, Weibrecht 5, Hotop 2.