(Park Hills, MO) The top seeded Central Rebels move on to the championship round of the 68th annual Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament after a 60-46 semifinals victory over the fourth seed Hillsboro Hawks.
The game had multiple ties and lead changes and it was evident early. Central went up 11-4 early in the first, but after a Hillsboro timeout the Hawks stormed back to take the lead. The Rebels would take the lead back before the end of the quarter finishing 21-19. The second quarter yielded the same results, but Central entered halftime with a 35-29 lead. The Rebels pulled away in the second half, scoring five more than Hillsboro in the third and three more in the third, securing them the victory and punching their ticket to the championship round.
Jobe Bryant put the Central team on his back, scoring 35 points with eight coming from the free-throw line. He was helped by Zack Boyd, who put up 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Payton Brown led Hillsboro in scoring off the bench, scoring 14 and collecting eight rebounds.
The Rebels will play the Farmington Knights in the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 7:30pm. Hillsboro will play the South Iron Panthers for third place on Saturday at 4:30pm.