Boys Basketball
Class 1 Boys Basketball: Richland made the quarterfinals last year, losing to Chadwick, the eventual State Champs. Richland dropped an early season game to Bell City, but looks like they’re rounding back into form. Risco lost a close game to Richland last year, and looks like the best Class 1 team in the area so far. The winner of that game would have to go through Chadwick, a tough task for sure. But it would not be a shocker for either Richland or Risco to break through. Don’t count out Bell City, who already has a win over Richland this season. Also keep an eye on Delta, currently 4-1 and about to get fully healthy.
Class 2 Boys Basketball: Where do you even start? There are so many good teams in Class 2 Boys this year. South Pem made the Final Four last year and return basically their entire team. So they have to be the favorite until somebody beats them. But South Pem beat Puxico on one of the craziest game winning shots you’ll ever see, and Puxico also returns their entire team. Puxico is clearly improved and firing on all cylinders. If they stay healthy, they are going to be tough to beat. Campbell also looks like a really good team. They’re on a roll this season. Hayti can score points in bunches, and with so many new players, they’re only going to get better with more games together. Van Buren is going to be a 20 win team that nobody wants to see in a one game, “win or go home” scenario.” To get out of their district, Van Buren will have to beat South Iron, bumped up from Class 1 this year, and they haven’t lost a game yet. They’re going to be in the mix at the end of the season. Bernie is very talented and extremely well coached. They’ve taken a few losses early, but you know they’re going to keep getting better throughout the season. And then there is “The Factory,” the Charleston Bluejays, the perennial Class 3 Powerhouse that has dropped down to Class 2. They’re young, talented, and they’re guarding like the old school Charleston teams. If they figure it out, watch out. So if you’re keeping score at home: South Pem, Puxico, Campbell, Van Buren, South Iron, Bernie, and Charleston. That is seven teams that have to battle it out to see who makes the Final Four this year. But I think it’s safe to say, the SEMO area will have at least one Class 2 team make it to State this year.
Class 3 Boys Basketball: Caruthersville, Scott City, Woodland. One of those three teams will make it to State. Write that down. Class 3 used to be the toughest road to state by far. You had that old Class 3 District 1, with Lennies McFerren (New Madrid) and Danny Farmer (Charleston) and so many other good teams down there. Then the winner had to fight their way through the private schools like Whitfield and Cardinal Ritter to make it to state. Not this year. Charleston is Class 2. New Madrid graduated most of the guys that won back-to-back State Championships. And all of those private schools are Championship Factored up into another class. What’s left is the winner of District 1 and District 2 versus the hollowed out old Public High League Schools. Teams like Sumner and Soldan used to be some of the biggest schools in the state. Now they’re dropped all the way down to Class 3, and those teams aren’t very good. So look for Caruthersville, Scott City, or Woodland to make the trip to Columbia this year. Who will it be? It’s too early to tell, but if I had to place a bet today, my money would be on the Scott City Rams.
Class 4 Boys Basketball: Nobody is really good in this class. Notre Dame, Dexter, or Kennett might be the early favorite in this area, but can they make a run through Potosi or Ste. Gen, and then beat Maplewoods? Probably not. This entire quarter of the state is watered down. If one of our local teams can get hot, anything is possible.
Class 5 Boys Basketball: This is Sikeston’s to lose. They’re loaded, and they basically only have to win one game to get to state. In an eight team District, they’re going to cruise through the first and second round. The Championship game should always be competitive, but Sikeston just beat Cape Central – the second best team in the District – by 40 points. So they should cruise through this District. Class 5 only has eight Districts. So Sikeston only has to win one game, a game they’ll host, to make it to State. Whoever they play in that game – Vianney, Lutheran South, etc – will be a tough game for sure. But Sikeston has to be a heavy favorite to make it back to State.
Class 6 Boys Basketball: Jackson is the lone Class 6 Boys Basketball team in the area. They’ll have a shot, but it’s a long shot.
Girls Basketball
Class 1 Girls: The Delta Ladycats will have another great shot to return to state. The big challenger will be Chadwick, but Chadwick will have to come to Delta. If Delta can clear that hurdle, they’ll have to go on the road to win a winnable quarterfinal game.
Class 2 Girls: It’s going to come down to St. Vincent or Neelyville. Chaffee could be a darkhorse spoiler team. I think St. Vincent is the heavy favorites to not only make it to State, but they’re going to have a really good chance to bring home the first place trophy.
Class 3 Girls: Portageville almost made it to State in Class 2 last year. They got bumped up to Class 3 this year, and it turns out that was a tremendous stroke of good luck for the Lady Bulldogs. Portageville could have competed with Neelyville and St. Vincent for sure, but the road is a lot smoother in Class 3. I don’t see anybody that can play with Portageville if their team comes together and plays well.
Class 4 Girls: Doniphan is the heavy favorite to make it out of this area. They are going to have to win a very tough quarterfinal game on the road to make it to state. They should make it to that game. I think Doniphan is better than Park Hills Central and Potosi. They’re going to have to win that tough quarterfinal game on the road to make it to State.
Class 5 Girls: We don’t have a SEMO team that’s going to make it. Farmington is the only team with a prayer, but they have a very tough road.
Class 6 Girls: Jackson has a great team, but they might be a year away from making a Final Four run. Beating Cor Jesu (7-0) in their District is going to be a major challenge. But the winner of that game will host the quarterfinal, and that should be against a lesser team. So I think Jackson actually has a shot.
So How Many Do We Have?
I think we will send a team in Class 2 Boys (Charleston), Class 3 Boys (Scott City), Class 5 Boys (Sikeston), Class 1 Girls (Delta), Class 2 Girls (St. Vincent), Class 3 Girls (Portageville), and Class 4 Girls (Doniphan). So we could send a total of 7 teams and maybe win 4-5 state titles. That would be a banner year for Southeast Missouri.