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GEM CITY CLASSIC: Thomas Jefferson earns opening win; McAuley’s rally comes up short

By:
SoMo Sports staff reports

DIAMOND, Mo. — Thomas Jefferson built and early cushion before pulling away from Sarcoxie, while McAuley Catholic’s late rally came up short against Lighthouse Christian in opening round action of the Gem City Classic on Tuesday.

EARLY SURGE SENDS THOMAS JEFFERSON PAST SARCOXIE

Top-seeded Thomas Jefferson built a 10-point lead after the first quarter and never wavered in a 53-42 win over eighth-seeded Sarcoxie to open the Gem City Classic on Tuesday.

The Cavaliers outscored the Bears 15-5 in the opening eight minutes to take control of the game. Thomas Jefferson pushed the lead to 33-16 by the intermission before Sarcoxie slightly cut into the lead the final two quarters.

Thomas Jefferson improves to 3-0 on the season with the win.

Caden Myers finished a double-double to lead the Cavaliers, totaling 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Jay Ball added 19 points, six rebounds and two blocks, while Drew Goodhope had nine points and five assists. Tyler Brouhard had five points and five boards.

Sarcoxie was led in scoring by Terio Asterio, who finished with 11 points. Tyler Cupp had nine, while Garret Smith finished with eight points.

Thomas Jefferson is in action against fourth-seeded Diamond in the semifinals of the Gem City Classic at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

 

MCAULEY CATHOLIC’S RALLY COMES UP SHORT

Sixth-seeded McAuley saw a first-half lead vanish in the third quarter and rallied back before coming up short in a 52-49 loss to third-seeded Lighthouse Christian in the opening round of the Gem City Classic.

The Warriors (0-2) built a 27-19 lead by the intermission over Lighthouse Christian before the Chargers outscored McAuley 19-0 in the third quarter to take a 38-19 advantage. The Warriors rallied back to outscore Lighthouse Christian 22-14 in the fourth quarter but came up just shy of forcing overtime.

“Obviously, it was a less than ideal third quarter and I am disappointed in the loss, but extremely proud of my guys,” McAuley coach Tony Witt said to SoMo Sports. “These guys showed a lot of heart and courage to fight their way back into it being down 11 to start the fourth.  We know what we are capable of, we just need to concentrate on playing four quarters.  We are going to learn from it and be better because of it.”

Noah Black led McAuley with 21 points, while Will Schmidly scored 15 and Cade Bethea had 12 for Lighthouse Christian.

McAuley takes on Galena at 7:30 on Thursday in the Gem City Classic.

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