Central Girls and South Iron Boys Champions of Central Christmas Tournament

(Park Hills) The 65th annual Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament came to a close this evening with the championship games heard on J98 The Boot. The girls kicked off the action with the top two seeded teams in the field. #1 Central defeated #2 Ste. Genevieve 67-59 to claim the title on their home court. Central clung to a one point lead after the first quarter and the game would go back and forth with Central leading 31-29 at half.

The second half was all Central as everything seemed to bounce their way.

Sophia Horton was named the Applebee’s of Farmington Player of the Game as she finished with 29 points. After the game, head coach Josh Mapes said Horton and all of his seniors showed up in different ways.

Central improves to 9-0 and will host undefeated West County on Monday. West County defeated Perryville today in the Kingston Tournament Championship. You can listen to that game on J98 with pregame at 7:15. Ste. Genevieve falls 4-3 and takes on Rock Bridge on Monday.

Post Game Interview with Josh Mapes:

Full Game Audio:

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The final game of the tournament was a rematch of last year’s final on the boys side between #1 South Iron and #3 Central. The Panthers proved too much for the young Rebel squad as they claimed their second straight Central Christmas Tournament Championship 63-43. South Iron controlled the game early leading by as many as thirteen in the first half behind a big showing from DJ Prater who led all scorers with 14 in the half. The Panthers took a 33-23 lead into the break.

South Iron continued their dominance in the second half extending their lead to 18 at the end of third. In the fourth quarter, South Iron continued to keep the Rebels at arms length and Brock Wakefield came alive with some dazzling plays, but it was DJ Prater who had the biggest impact.

Prater was named the Applebee’s of Farmington Player of the Game finishing with 22 points. Wakefield added 18 more. After the win Panther head coach Dusty Dinkins said he thought his guys were just a little better at executing than Central was. He also talked about DJ Prater and how he knew the junior would shine in this game.

South Iron improves to 9-2 and will take on Cardinal Ritter on Monday. You can listen to that game on J98 with coverage starting at 5:15. Central falls to 8-2 and faces Saxony Lutheran on Tuesday.

Post Game Interview with Dusty Dinkins: