CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Consistency is something that every team strives to attain, and the Cape Central boys basketball team appears to have a lot of it.
The top-seeded Tigers continued their run in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament with another resounding win on Friday at the Show Me Center.
Central slowed things down late in the third quarter to pull away, and junior Chauncey Hughes scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the final period to secure the Tigers' 65-47 victory over fourth-seeded Jackson.
The win sends Central (9-1) back into the championship game for the first time in two years, where it'll take on No. 3 Charleston at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
"I think we just kind of kept grinding," Tigers coach Drew Church said. "We made a decision late in the third quarter to kind of spread them out, mainly because we had a kid in foul trouble. Without spending a timeout, we wanted to spread it out a little bit, and we kind of liked the way that looked.
"Having a little lead, you have the luxury of doing that, so we spread it out and kind of got them out of their zones. That gave us some angles and some defensive matchups that we liked to try and penetrate."
Back-to-back layups by Prei Woodson sparked a 10-2 run for Central during the final 4 minutes, 48 seconds of the third period, allowing the Tigers to build a 42-35 advantage heading into the final quarter.
After a back-and-forth first half, Central utilized its speed during the run by getting Jackson (5-4) away from the basket in the half court. The slight adjustment opened up driving lanes for the Tigers, allowing their guards to get inside and score in the paint.
Then in the fourth quarter, Hughes single-handedly took over the game.
The 6-foot-1 guard scored all of Central's points during an 8-1 run, sprinting past Jackson players along the sidelines on three different possessions, including a layup that gave the Tigers a 50-36 lead with 5:21 remaining.
Hughes finished 8 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
A layup by Payton Salyer pulled the Indians within 52-41 at the 4:27 mark, but Central responded with a 7-0 swing to build their largest lead of the game, 59-41.
The rest was elementary. Jackson closed the gap back to 15 points before the Tigers ended the game on a 5-2 run.
Central junior Kinyon Hodges had a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, as the Tigers finished with a 23-14 advantage on the glass.
"I thought he did phenomenal," Church said about Hodges. "He's athletic, and he can get in there and rebound. I thought in the first half, he was a little sluggish. In the second half, he really took it upon himself to rebound and make plays."
Austin Parker added 10 points and seven boards for Central, while Tyrus Reddin chipped in seven points and accounted for five of the Tigers' 14 steals.
Central finished 60 percent (24 of 40) from the field, including a second-half performance in which it shot 70 percent (14 of 20). The Tigers finished 14 of 23 (60.9 percent) at the charity stripe.