Central Christmas Tournament Boys Quarterfinals

#1 South Iron 79 – #8 Festus Tigers 62

(Park HIlls) The Bob Sechrest jr. Central Christmas Tournament continued tonight on J98 with four quarterfinal games in the boys bracket. Game number one saw the #1 South Iron Panthers took to the court for the first time in the tournament after their first round game was canceled. The usual suspects showed up for South Iron as they defeated the Festus Tigers 79-62. Drennin Dinkins put up 25 points in three quarters of play and Brock Wakefield added 25 of his own.

Luke Lunyou was named the Applebee’s of Farmington Player of the Game. He hit big shot after big shot on the evening pouring in 16 points. Lunyou made a living on the boards and the defensive end causing havoc on the Tigers all game long. After the game, Panther head coach Dusty Dinkins praised the senior.

The Panthers take on the Farmington Knights in semifinal number one coming up tomorrow.

Post Game Interview:

Dusty Dinkins

Full game audio

#5 Farmington 78 – #4 Ste. Genevieve 62

The semifinals on the boys side of the Central Christmas Tournament are in the books with South Iron, Farmington, North County, and Central surviving and advancing this evening on J98.

The second game of the night saw #5 Farmington taking on #4 Ste. Genevieve in a rematch from back on December 4th. Although the Dragons got the best of the Knights in the first match-up, Farmington was able to take round two thanks to a huge game from senior Brant Gray…

Gray finished with 29 including five triples and was named the Applebee’s of Farmington Player of the Game as the Knights rolled to a 78-62 win. Farmington head coach Terry Noble says a fast start is what paved the way to victory…

The Knights improve to 7-1 with the win and will take on South Iron in the semifinals tomorrow night. Ste. Gen drops to 5-4 and will play Festus in the first round of the 5th place bracket.

Post Game Interviews:

Terry Noble

Full game audio

#2 North County 58 – #7 Desoto 53

Quarterfinal three saw the undefeated #2 North County Raiders facing the #7 Desoto Dragons. DeSoto was coming off an exciting 54-51 over Hillsboro in round one and used that energy to keep the game close all game long. These two team squared off earlier on the season where North County defeated the Dragons by 14. The margin would not be that large Tuesday night but North County claimed their spot in the semifinals with a 58-53 victory. The Raiders got 15 points each from Wil Claywell and Kyle Conkright.

All 15 points came on three pointers for Claywell who was named the Applebee’s of Farmington Player of the Game. After the game, Raider head coach Jimmy Palmer said although it was far from a perfect game he thought his guys played hard.

The #2 Raiders face the #3 Central Rebels in the semifinals tomorrow night.

Post Game Interviews:

Jimmy Palmer

Zeb Hammond

Full game audio

#3 Central 71 – #6 Steelville 61

The final game of the night saw #3 Central battle #6 Steelville in what was a back-and-forth game early as the Rebels held a slim 35-33 lead at halftime. However, Central was able to pull away down the stretch…

Rebels finished it off with the final 71-61. Central head coach Brad Gross says it was a gritty win…

Central improves to 7-1 with the win and will meet North County in the semis tomorrow night. Steelville falls to 7-3 and will play DeSoto in the first round of the 5th place bracket.

Post Game Interviews:

Brad Gross