Kelly beats St. Vincent, 71-56

CEDAR HILL -- Free-throw shooting played a big role in the semifinals of the Mobil On the Run Classic on Friday, as the Central boys basketball team hit just nine of 19 in a 65-56 loss to Marquette at Northwest High School in Cedar Hill, Mo.

Central trailed 34-33 at halftime and was down two after three quarters. Marquette (3-0) outscored the Tigers (2-3) 14-7 in the final quarter to pull away.

Marquette hit 19 of 23 free throws.

"They were bigger and stronger, but if we shot free throws we'd have had a chance," Central coach Derek McCord said.

Darnell Wilks led the Tigers with 19 points, and Jajuan Bell added 12 points.

Central will play Northwest at 4 p.m. today in the third-place game.

Marquette 65, Cape Central 56

(Varsity boys)

CENTRAL (56) -- Darnell Wilks 19, Jajuan Bell 12, Jeremy Kimble 9, David Deisher 7, Jared Thomas 4, Garrett Ozbun 3, Landon Ewers 2. FG 22, FT 9

-19, F 20 (3-pointers: Bell 2, Wilks 1. Fouled out: none)

MARQUETTE (65) -- Andy Rosburg 16, Thomas Ahlborn 12, Karlos Washington 12, Tom Blake 9, Paul Douglass 9, Jason Lewis 5, Jimmy Nelson 2. FG 20, FT 19-23, F 16 (3-pointers: Washington 4, Douglass 1, Lewis 1. Fouled out: Nelson)

Kelly made eight 3-pointers and won at home.

Dallas Tew led the Hawks (3-2) with 23 points, Brandon Ayers had 13 and Jordan Felter added 10.

Greg Finger led St. Vincent (0-1) with 17 points, and Waylon Richardet had 16 points and 13 rebounds.