Day 2 of the Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament

#7 DeSoto 54 – #10 Hillsboro 51

(Park Hills) The second day of the Central Christmas Tournament saw the DeSoto, Central, and Steelville boys teams advance to the quarterfinals with victories on J98.

The first game of the night pitted the #7 DeSoto Dragons against the #10 Hillsboro Hawks.

The game came down to the wire with the score deadlocked at 51-51 in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.

Then DeSoto’s Cody Petty made the play of the game to seal the win.

Petty was true on the free throw and the Dragons downed the Hawks 54-51.

DeSoto head coach Zeb Hammond says he was pleased with the win, but he wants to see his team’s consistency improve going forward.

DeSoto will meet #2 North County in the quarterfinals tomorrow night while Hillsboro falls to the consolation bracket where they automatically move to the semifinals and await the winner of Crystal City and Jefferson.

Postgame Interview:

Zeb Hammond

Full Game Audio:

#3 Central 81 – #14 Crystal City 49

In the second game of the night #3 Central dominated #14 Crystal City 81-49.

Six Rebels scored in the first quarter en route to a 27-12 lead.

Freshman Jobe Bryant and sophomore Mason Williams played well in tandem tonight.

Bryant scored 15 points while Williams added 12 as the Rebels led 52-24 at the half.

Bryant was named the Applebee’s of Farmington player of the game.

Rebels’ head coach Brad Gross said the win was a team effort, but he knows how important Bryant can be.

Central moves on to the quarterfinals while Crystal City drops to the consolation bracket.

Postgame Interview:

Brad Gross

Full Game Audio:

#6 Steelville 70 – #11 Jefferson 39

The nightcap saw #6 Steelville take down #11 Jefferson by a final score of 70-39.

It was a 10-point lead at halftime for the Cardinals, and they built on that advantage throughout the second half by outscoring the Bluejays 35-14 over the final two frames.

Leading the way was Steelville’s Johnny Brice, who poured in 15 of his 18 points in the second half.