Its hard to believe but this High School Basketball season is just about in the books. The small schools start District play on Saturday and the big schools follow the week after.
With that being said, here is a look at the districts featuring our local teams.. and a little bit of how I see the tournament going…
Class 2 District 10 at Spokane.
Girls– 1. Blue Eye 2. New Cov. 3 Spokane 4. Sparta 5. Morrisville 6.S of O 7. Pleasant Hope 8. Greenwood.
Blue Eye is the big favorite here and should roll through this tournament. Back at full-strength the Lady Bulldogs have a great chance to be playing at JQH in a few weeks.
Boys– 1. Greenwood 2. New Cov. 3. Blue Eye 4. Spokane 5. Sparta 6. SofO 7. Pleasant Hope 8. Morrisville
Greenwood has to be the favorite here. Mohammed is the real deal. He has already broken the single season scoring record for Springfield schools and has a real shot to have a 1000 point season. Blue Eye and New Covenant have a real shot here, but will have to be at the top of their games. Don’t count out Spokane, either. The Owls are hosting and do own a victory over the Blue Jays.
Class 3 District 11 at Clever
Girls- 1. Strafford 2. Fair Grove 3. Clever 4. Buffalo 5. Catholic 6. Forsyth 7. Ava 8. Hollister
This is the toughest district in the state regardless of Class. Case in point, Hollister has won 15 games and is seeded last, and really has no argument to be any higher. Clever is the 3 seed, and should be. They beat Kickapoo, the Class 5 District 11 top seed by 25. Now, all that being said, this will be Strafford District. The Lady Indians are the best team in the state and one of the best in the nation. They have won 107 in a row and that number will continue to grow.
Boys- 1. Catholic 2. Strafford 3. Fair Grove 4. Clever 5. Hollister 6. Forsyth 7. Buffalo 8. Ava
This one should be a good one. That Hollister-Clever matchup in the first round will be one to watch. The Tigers play hard and always bring their defense. Its all going to come down to their shooting. If they can limit the turnovers and put the ball in the hole they can pull the mild upset. Forsyth has turned some heads this year. Fair Grove is a tough matchup for them. The regular season game was a 19 point win for the Eagles. Panthers will keep this one closer. In the end Catholic is the one seed for a reason. They are the best team here. The should be claiming a plaque to hang on the wall beside the one they got for football.
Class 4 District at Logan-Rogersville
Girls- 1. Rogersville 2. West Plains 3. Reeds Spring 4. Hillcrest 5. Marshfield 6. Aurora
The fact that Reeds Spring has won 10 games this year considering the injuries and defections, is a real tribute to coaching and the desire of those still on the team. They have a real shot to have the most wins in a over a decade and pick up their fist district win since 2013. In the end this district will come down to Rogersville vs West Plains. The two of them played a one point game earlier this season in Zizzerland. Rogersville won that one. I have picked all #1 seeds so far… why not West Plains, here. It will be a dandy no matter who wins.
Boys- 1. Logan-Rogersville 2. West Plains 3. Marshfield 4. Hillcrest 5.Aurora 6. Reeds Spring
While this one will also come down to the top two seeds. I just dont see Rogersville losing. The Wildcats have plenty of firepower and know how to close out game. The beat the Zizzers by 20 in January and will do it again to gain a birth in the State Playoffs.
Class 5 at Kickapoo
Girls- 1. Kickapoo 2. Ozark 3. Nixa 4. Branson 5. Glendale
Not sure how the seeding turned out this way. Branson and Nixa have similar records. Branson beat Nixa at Nixa. They played Ozark to 7, while Nixa lost to their rivals by 15. Yet, Nixa is seeded ahead of the Lady Pirates. So there has to be something I am missing here.
A couple of years ago, I thought the Lady Pirates were snubbed and was called a homer for picking them to win it. Well, that year they had my back and rewarded me for my confidence in them with taking the title. This year I still think they will make some noise, but the pick here has got to be Kickapoo. The Lady Chiefs are on a long winning streak and seem to be showing the form that we all expected from them this season.
Boys- 1. Kickapoo 2. Nixa 3. Ozark 4. Glendale 5. Branson
This one should be good. The top three are all really close and the head to head games have shown it. All games decided by five points or less. I can make arguments for all three schools. Kickapoo is at home and has already beaten the other two. Jay Osborne is as good as it gets. He always finds ways to make his Eagles a dangerous threat this time of year. But, I am going with Ozark, here. Yes, they are 0-3 against the other two teams this year, and yes many thought this would be a rebuilding year for the Tigers. I could easily be wrong, as I said, I think this one is a toss up.. but if I have to make a pick I am going with Mark Schweitzer’s bunch.
It should be a real entertaining couple of weeks. Looking forward to all the action.
