Semoball

Jackson boys basketball advances to semifinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament with win over Bell City

Bell City's Cole Nichols blocks a shot from Jackson's Jacob Friess in the fourth quarter of a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, during the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center.
Laura Simon

Bell City's reward for the biggest upset of the first round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament wasn't forgiving: the third-seeded Jackson boys basketball team.

Tuesday, Jackson used its height advantage to generate second-chance opportunities and pull away in the third quarter for a 67-42 win over No. 11 Bell City at the Show Me Center on Tuesday night. A day earlier, the Cubs defeated Woodland to set up this quarterfinal matchup.

Jackson will face No. 7 Advance in a semifinal Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.. The Indians outscored Bell City 17-7 in the third quarter to open up a 22-point lead heading into the final frame.

"What I saw, we let them get second shots," Bell City coach C.J. Hadley said. "We didn't box out. They got one shot and missed and instead of us boxing out and getting rebounds we ended up letting them get another shot, and like I tell anybody if we let teams get second shots anybody can beat you. Second and third shots beat us."

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Jackson's Grayson Ward goes up for a shot attempt in the fourth quarter of a quarterfinal game against Bell City on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, during the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center.
Laura Simon

Grayson Ward lead Jackson (8-3) with 17 while Payton Salyer added 13. Cameron Hester had 11 points and six rebounds.

Cole Nichols followed up his 37-point first-round performance with 28 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter.

In the third quarter, Jackson started trapping Nichols in the open floor, which helped lead to some turnovers and fast-break baskets.

Overall, Jackson coach Darrin Scott believed his team's defense tightened up in the third frame after Bell City (5-5) scored 18 points in the first half.

"Early we let Nichols — 12 — 13 (Austin Hicks), and 35 (Bobby Wright) all get a 3 off," Scott said. "That's something we could have controlled — to get out on them. That was their bulk of points —their nine points that we felt like we could have taken away. In the second half we did a better job of not leaving those guys, relying on our help-side, guarding the other two guys, and then we did start trapping 12 (Nichols) a little bit and got a few turnovers which i thought helped."

Bell City will face No. 2 Cape Girardeau Central in a fifth-place semifinal Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. They will again be at a height disadvantage.

"I feel like we battled a lot with (Jackson)," Hadley said. "When you got three, four inches of height, and it's solid muscle. I'm proud of my guys. They played hard. They battled with them. They didn't just lay over. We played hard until the end, and that's all I ask for as a coach.

Now, Jackson is one win away from the final. And after defending Nichols, the Indians will again have to deal with a high-scoring backcourt.

"It's going to be tough for us because they have some guards that can really play and shoot it," Scott said. "Once again taking away the three-point line is going to very, very important."

Jackson 67, Bell City 42

Bell City81071742
Jackson1416172067

BELL CITY (42) —Chase Dembowski 4, Cole Nichols 28, Austin Hicks 4, Bobby Wright 6. FG 12. FT 14-25. F 15. (3-pointers: Nichols 2, Hicks, Wright. Fouled out: Evan Smith.)

JACKSON (67) — Lane Crowden 2, Jonathon Freiss 2, Payton Salyer 13, Grayson Ward 17, Colten Seyer 7, Dalton Tollison 1, Jacob Friess 7, Cameron Hester 11, Brett Varner 4, Seth Beussink 3. FG 24. FT 15-23. F 17. (3-pointers: Salyer 2, Ward, Seyer. Fouled out: None.)

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