HOLIDAY HOOPS FOR THE WIN: Christmas tournaments are a highlight of December

Puxico's Scyler Zimmerman (35) shoots over Dexter's John Sepulvado (right) during Monday's championship game at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

DAR/Mark J. Sanders

It's been a long while since I've got to enjoy as much holiday basketball as I have this year.

For the first time in a while, if ever, I got to attend the Poplar Bluff Showdown, Lady Royals Christmas Classic and the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament all in one five-day stretch. While I last covered the Showdown and Lady Royals Christmas Classic in 2019, this was my first time at Bloomfield in at least a decade.

And I enjoyed it, to say the least.

As I have said before, covering sports and meeting the people I meet through doing so are hands-down my favorite part of this job. This holiday season — and this year, for that matter — have been a pleasant reminder of that fact.

And all of the holiday tournaments local teams participated in this season brought something special to the table.

Clarkton Christmas Tournament

The Clarkton Christmas Tournament has long been known as a great pre-Christmas break lead-in to the larger (16-team) holiday tournaments, but one aspect which has made it better in recent years has been several Ozark Foothills Conference schools joining the field. Doniphan, East Carter and Greenville were in the CCT field this year alongside the host Reindeer, Portageville, North Pemiscot and Risco, with the latter winning the tournament.

Risco won the tournament, which served as foreshadowing of its run at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament. The Tigers nearly upset third-seeded Dexter in the quarterfinals and then outlasted Van Buren in double overtime to earn a rematch of last season's district title game with Richland in Monday's fifth-place contest at Bloomfield, which the Tigers won.

Lady Royals Christmas Classic

Since its debut in the late 1990s, the Lady Royals Christmas Classic has taken its place among the area's — if not the state's — top holiday tournaments. While Doniphan has dominated the tournament in recent years, the matchups at the tournament are must-see girls basketball. And the addition of a tradition-rich Poplar Bluff team has also been a nice positive, which the Lady Mules proved this season by making it to the tournament semifinals and nearly edging out Neelyville for third place.

But as it has done for the last four years, the Doniphan Donettes dominated on their way to yet another tournament title. With four starters back from a team which finished 25-1 last winter, Doniphan's success was not a surprise — but it still was impressive to watch.

Poplar Bluff Showdown

What the Showdown lacks in local teams (aside from the host Mules), it more than makes up for in the quality of teams and athletes it brings to Southeast Missouri every December. Even the first Showdown in 1987 featured then-Kansas City Paseo senior Anthony Peeler, who went on to have a standout career — first for the Missouri Tigers, then a long NBA career.

The 1990s saw future Duke standout William Avery and future NFL cornerback R.W. McQuarters take the court at Poplar Bluff High School. The 2000s saw the Mules win their first Showdown title behind future NBA brothers Tyler and Ben Hansbrough, then future NBA All-Star Devin Booker played at the Showdown in 2012.

This year, Vashon showed why it is the No. 1 team in Class 4 as it won its Showdown-record sixth title, including a tournament-record 53-point victory in the championship game.

Bloomfield Christmas Tournament

It has often been debated which is the better holiday tournament — the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament or the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament? The latter tournament offers a diverse blend of small schools like Oak Ridge and Delta with large schools like Jackson and Cape Central, while Bloomfield has been a small-school tournament since the 1980s.

This year's edition of the BCT started off with its share of first-round blowouts, but an overtime win by Van Buren over Doniphan last Thursday evening served as a harbinger of great games to come at the tournament. The aforementioned double-overtime contest between Risco and Van Buren in last Saturday's fifth-place semifinals might just be one of the best games in tournament history.

Then later that evening, third-seeded Dexter surprised No. 2 East Prairie, a team many expected to win the BCT, in the semifinals to give the tournament an all-Stoddard County title tilt between the Bearcats and top-seeded Puxico. In fact, five of the eight teams playing for trophies on Monday were Stoddard County teams — Puxico, Dexter, Bernie, Richland and host Bloomfield.

And championship topped it all, as the championship and third-place games went overtime, with Puxico outlasting Dexter to live up to its No. 1 seed and taking the tour for the first time since 1989.

Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament

The oldest holiday tournament in the area, the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament (previously known as the University High School Christmas Tournament, or the U-High Tournament) offers a tradition that only a tournament which has been around for a century can. While its blend of larger schools and smaller schools can make for early-round blowouts, the later-round games often are some of the best of the high school basketball season.

Three Stoddard County Activities Association teams — Bell City, Advance and Woodland — are fixtures at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament and all three had successes this season. Woodland took third place on Monday, while Bell City won its tournament opener for the first time in several years and Advance also won a consolation game at the tourney.

While the holiday hoops season is over, high school basketball season is far from it. And the best might be yet to come on the hardwood, so stay tuned.

Mike Buhler is a sports writer for the Daily American Republic and Dexter Statesman. Contact him at mbuhler@darnews.com.