Central Christmas Tournament Day 1 Recap

(Park Hills) The 4th seed Steelville Cardinals took the first victory of the Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament 65-53 over #5 seed Festus. Steelville took an early six point lead, but Festus tied it up at 20 at the end of the first. Festus pushed ahead by five in the second, but Abby Kreitner hit a three at buzzer to tie it at 30 at the half. Steelville used that momentum to complete a 14-0 run and they never trailed again. Tobi Pennock scored 22 in the win and hit six three pointers….

Coach Zach Kennedy says Pennock never gets nervous…

Josie Allen scored 18 for Festus.

10th ranked Steelville (Class 3) improves to 8-2 and will play South Iron in the semifinal on Wednesday. Festus falls to 5-4 and will play winless Arcadia Valley on the consolation side.

The South Iron/AV game was delayed and then played in the practice gym. The #2 ranked and top seeded Panthers won 73-44.

Full interview with Zach Kennedy

Interview with Festus coach Steve McFarland

The 2nd seeded Central girls won the second game 71-26 over 7th seed Ste. Genevieve. The Rebels used two separate 19-0 runs to create the big gap. Khloe Dischbein scored 21 for the Rebels.

Coach Josh Mapes says it was a slow start but his team adjusted as the game went on.

Kayden Huck added 12 points for Ste. Genevieve. Central improves to 8-1 and will play 6th seeded Fredericktown in the semifinal on Wednesday. Ste. Genevieve is 5-3 and gets 3rd seeded Potosi on the consolation side on Tuesday.

Full interview with Josh Mapes:

My MO Info · CENTRAL COACH POST GAME 12 – 26

The 6th seeded Fredericktown girls broke a six game losing streak with a 50-35 win over Potosi. Potosi scored the first seven points of the game, but Fredericktown responded with the next 12 and went on a 21-4 run. The Blackcats pushed the lead to 18 at 38-20. P.J. Reutzel scored 18 in the win with 11 rebounds and six assists.

Her coach Micah Reutzel says his players finally applied their determination…

Fredericktown improves to 5-6 and plays Central in the semifinal. Potosi falls to 6-2 and will face Ste. Genevieve on the consolation side.

Full interview with Micah Reutzel

Interview with Potosi coach Allie Golden

Boys play commenced with the top seeded Central Rebels defeating 16th seeded Perryville 85-45. Jobe Bryant paced the Rebels with 17 points and a wide range of assists.

It was an 8-5 lead for Central at one point in the first quarter but the Rebels went into the half up 48-22. Coach Brad Gross tells us what changed over the course of the game.

Zack Boyd and Collin McMullen added 16 and 15 points, respectively, for Central. The Rebels improve to 7-1 and will play 9th seeded North County in the quarterfinasl on Wednesday. Perryville falls to 2-8 and will play 8th seeded Herculaneum on the consolation side Tuesday.

Full interview with Brad Gross:

The 8 versus 9 matchup was not as close as the seeds indicated as (9) North County took down (8) Herculaneum 77-50. The Raiders raced to a 23 point first half lead behind dominant play from their center Andrew Civey who finished with 31 points and 19 rebounds.

Coach Dan Johnson says when you can control the paint the game becomes easier….

North County improves to 5-4 and will play Central in the quarterfinal. Herky falls to 6-2 and will get Perryville on the consolation side.

Full interview with Dan Johnson

Interview with Jason Jarvis

Four seed Steelville defeated number 13 Jefferson 72-58. Connor Diaz supplied offense with 23 points and defense with what felt like a season’s worth of steals in one night for the Cardinals.

Most teams on Monday were coming off of long breaks without much practice, includuing the Cardinals. Steelville coach John Tolly says it took some time for them to get up to game speed.

Landon Mabe also scored 23 for Steelville. Max Schnitzler scored 16 for Jefferson. Steelville improves to 7-1 and will play 5th seeded Ste. Genevieve in the quarters. Jefferson falls to 3-9 and will play 12th seeded Farmington on the consolation side.

Full interview with John Tolly:

Full interview with Jefferson coach Sean Breeze:

Five seed Ste. Genevieve outlasted #12 Farmington 66-62. The Knights used a 13-3 run in the first quarter to go on top by six. Ste. Gen went up by a point at halftime and used a sizzling third by Ricky Hunter to build the lead to 10. Hunter scored 11 in the quarter and 16 in the game…