Clark plays star role as No. 1 Charleston boys basketball holds off game No. 7 Advance for Christmas Tourney title

Charleston players celebrate their 66-60 win over Advance to claim the title of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, at the Show Me Center.

Laura Simon

The Show Me Center was rocking as the pro-Advance crowd sensed an upset and another comeback.

The lead had been cut to two, the closest the seventh-seeded Hornets had been since the first quarter, and they had a chance to tie or take the lead in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament championship game.

But Charleston’s Mardareyon Clark wasn’t about to let that happen. He swiped the ball before cruising down the court for a thunderous dunk, and Advance never got closer than three the rest of the way as No. 1 Charleston held off a second-half rally from Advance to claim its first Christmas title in four years with a 66-60 win over the Hornets on Friday night.

Charleston junior Mardareyon Clark (32), Advance senior Preston Wuebker (2) and Advance junior Armani Vermillion (1) fight for the ball during the championship game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament between Charleston and Advance Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Charleston won 66-60.

Andrew J. Whitaker

It’s the Blue Jays’ 18th Christmas Tournament title.

Clark was at the center of the victory with 32 points and 14 rebounds, as the 6-foot-4 junior helped Charleston control the boards against the smaller Hornets.

The Blue Jays used their height advantage — they had four starters 6-1 or taller, while Advance had two — to outrebound Advance 34-13. That included numerous offensive boards that helped extend possessions, resulting in second- or third-chance points.

“That was the difference,” Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. “Second shots, rebounds — and it should have been the difference. That’s what we wanted to focus on. You know, beat them inside. We wanted to get it inside, and we wanted to hit the offensive boards and get seconds shots.

“That’s the difference in the game.”

Demarcus Sharp joined Clark, the tournament’s top scorer, in double figures with 11 points.

Preston Wuebker led Advance with 21 points and five rebounds, and Armani Vermillion added 19. But the Hornets — the first school in the current field of 16 teams to win a title — fell just short of their first tournament title since 2000.

Advance senior Brendan Crader (13) looks to pass while guarded by Charleston junior Jeremy Tucker (34) during the championship game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament between Charleston and Advance Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Charleston won 66-60.

Andrew J. Whitaker

“We made a run there, but they just beat us on the boards so bad,” Advance coach Bubba Wheetley said. “Everytime we’d make that run, they’d just kill us on the boards and get an easy bucket. Not much we could do about it.”

Charleston (10-1) led 38-24 at halftime, thanks largely to second-chance points and Clark.

To reach the final, Advance (8-2) got past two higher-seeded teams with a height advantage — No. 2 Cape Central and No. 3 Jackson. But Friday, Charleston used its length — it brought multiple players off the bench who are 6-2 or taller — to dominate the boards early.

On one possession in the first quarter, the Blue Jays grabbed four rebounds. They finally scored on a Clark putback, which gave the top seed a 15-9 lead. And the period ended with Charleston turning a second-chance opportunity into three points when Jaquavis Rodgers hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer from the right wing to give his team an 18-11 lead.

Vermillion kept his team within striking distance with 13 points in the first half. Still, Charleston led by 14 at halftime — their largest lead of the game up to that point — thanks to a 5-0 run to close the half. Clark had 15 points and seven rebounds in the first two frames.

Charleston junior Demarcus Sharp (24) and Advance junior Armani Vermillion (1) reach for the all during the championship game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament between Charleston and Advance Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Charleston won 66-60.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Charleston’s Delontre Fisher opened the second half with a bucket, as the lead ballooned to 40-24. Late in the period the lead was still at 15 after four straight points from Clark. But the Hornets battled back. Vermillion found Dawson Mayo under the basket for a layup to cap a 7-2 run that cut Charleston’s to eight, 52-44.

In the fourth quarter, Advance got even closer. With 6 minutes, 51 seconds left, Charleston’s lead was five, 54-49. But Clark sandwiched two putbacks around a Wuebker basket to give the Blue Jays a little more breathing room.

“On some many sequences we had two or three (scoring chances),” Farmer said. “Someone would miss. Mardareyon would get a rebound, put it back in.

“Or it would bounce our way.”

Advance’s comeback culminated with a steal and then a fast-break lay-up by Brendan Crader. That cut the deficit to 58-56, but then Clark got the steal and dunked the ball as the Charleston fans exploded in cheers.

“When I saw them turning, I knew I was going to get the ball,” Clark said. “And my first mindset was just dunk, dunk, dunk, so I just went for the dunk.”

Mayo hit a free throw to cut the deficit to 60-57, but Clark got another basket to push the lead back to five.

From there, Charleston hits its free throws to secure the title, which was four years in the making.

“We hadn’t won it in four, and it’s a great feeling, man,” Farmer said. “This tournament is difficult to win. I’ve had teams come up that I thought would win it, but we won’t. But this team is fortunate.

“This team just knows how to fight back, fight back and win.”

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Advance and Charleston headlined the all-tournament team with two selections each — Vermillion and Mayo for the Hornets and Clark and Jeremy Tucker for the top seed. Dawson Dohogne from Notre Dame, Cole Nichols from Bell City, and Scott City's Dylan Keller were also on the team.

Meadow Heights' Lane Baremore, Scott County Central's Deantrell Beard, and Oran's Jacob Shoemaker rounded out the 10-member team.

ADVANCE (60) — Armani Vermillion 19, Preston Wuebker 21, Michael Hood 7, Brendan Crader 2, Carson Miles 2, Dawson Mayo 9. FG 22, FT 10-13, F 13. (3-pointers: Wuebker 5, Hood. Fouled out: Hood.)

CHARLESTON (66) — Jacquavis Rodgers 8, Samuel Bledsoe 6, Latrell Porter 1, Demarcus Sharp 11, Mardareyon Clark 32, Jeremy Tucker 4, Delontre Fisher 4. FG 22, FT 16-19, F 15. (3-pointers: Bledsoe, Sharp, Rodgers, Clark. Fouled out: None.)