Scott Central's Caleb Johnson is seeking his first sectional win. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat) [Click to enlarge]

POPLAR BLUFF -- For the last four years in-a-row, the Scott County Central Braves and the Bell City Cubs have battled against each other in the post season to decide who goes on, and who goes home.

With another Class 1 sectional game on the way, why would anyone not expect these two rivals to meet at least one more time.

Scott Central and Bell City will meet for the fifth straight time on Tuesday night at Poplar Bluff High School at 7:45 p.m.

Scott Central and Bell City both used 88 points to dispatch their district contenders and advance to the sectional round last Thursday night. The Braves rolled against the Gideon Bulldogs 88-56 and Bell City routed Lesterville 88-57 to win their respective districts.

Since the 2004 sectional game, which was the first sectional meeting between the two rivals, Bell City has been undefeated against the Braves in the postseason. After defeating Scott Central 71-64 in 2004, the Cubs kept rolling through the competition to win their second state championship in three years. The first one came in 2002.

In the 2004-05 season, Scott Central had beaten the Cubs three times in the regular season but fell short for the second time in the playoffs at the Sikeston Field House, 67-58.

The only meeting between the two in the 2005-06 season was the third sectional match-up at the Cape Central junior high gym, when Bell City crushed the Braves, 82-51.

And at the latest post season meeting between them on March 6, 2007 at Poplar Bluff, Bell City just narrowly escaped a Scott Central comeback in the fourth quarter with a 65-63 win.

When asked what they will have to do differently to change the outcome against Bell City, Scott Central head coach Ronnie Cookson jokingly said, "We're gonna have to win.

"No, we're going to have to stay with them entirely through the game is what we re going to have to do," said Cookson.

Scott Central did not stay with the Cubs entirely throughout that game earlier in the year, as Bell City handed the Braves their first of two losses on the season at the Oran Invitational championship game, in another Braves/Cubs classic.

Scott Central held the lead at the end of the first quarter, 16-14, but started to fall back during the second and third quarters, to again make a late charge in the fourth, ultimately to come up short, 75-72.

"The last time we played them we just had a bad game," Braves senior Caleb Johnson said. "So, we have to come out and jump on them early and get them down. If we do that, I think we can beat them."

Trying to jump out to an early lead also felt like a good idea to fellow senior D.D. Gillespie.

"We'll have to try and start out fast," Gillespie said. "We'll have to try and put the game out of the way early."

In hopes of doing that, that means that the Braves will have to try and contain Bell City senior Nick Niemczyk. For most teams, that's no easy task.

"Niemczyk, he's tough," Cookson said. "He's the toughest ballplayer there is in the area. We are just going to have to do what we can do with him."

Niemczyk scored 41 points against Lesterville last Thursday and had 32 points in the win against the Braves at the Oran Invitational.

The Braves will take their 25-2 record and an 18-game winning streak with them to Poplar Bluff to try and conquer that four-year mountain.

Bell City will bring their 25-3 record with them to try and keep things the way they are.

Either way this game is decided, it is sure to be another tremendously exciting game to add to the rivalry between the Bell City Cubs and the Scott County Central Braves.