Area schools tip off districts on Monday

The regular season for high school boys and girls basketball is in many ways a rehearsal for the postseason, which starts Monday as district play tips off all across Missouri and in this area.

Among the teams hoping to make a deep postseason run are the Neelyville Lady Tigers. Neelyville is 19-5 on the season, ranked seventh the latest Class 2 state coaches poll and is the top seed in the Class 2 District 2 Tournament at Van Buren.

All five of the Lady Tigers’ losses this season have came against larger schools, with three of them coming against Doniphan (Class 4 No. 3) and another against Portageville (Class 3 No. 8).

Despite being a clear favorite to win a district title, Neelyville coach Becky Hale is not looking past anybody.

“We are in a tough district and we will need to play hard and play as a team,” Hale said. I feel like we are in a good vibe within our team right now and if we maintain the positives then good things are going to happen for us this season.”

The Lady Tigers have a first-round bye and will not play until 5 p.m. on Thursday in the semifinals, when they will face the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between No. 4 Greenville and fifth-seeded Van Buren. That first-round game is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Other first-round games at Van Buren on Tuesday include No. 2 Alton vs. No. 7 Clearwater at 6:30 p.m. and No. 3 East Carter vs. No. 6 Ellington at 8 p.m. The winner of those two contests will play each other in the other semifinal at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The district championship game will feature Thursday’s winners and will take place at 6 p.m. next Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Twin Rivers Royals boys basketball team is the No. 3 seed at the Class 3 District 1 Tournament at Kelly High School in Benton and will open play at 6:30 p.m. on Monday against sixth-seeded Portageville. The winner of that game will take on No. 2 seed East Prairie in semifinal action at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

“In order for us to win a district title, we are going to have to take care of the ball and control the pace of the game,” Twin Rivers coach Austin Birmingham said. “The top two seeds in our district like to get up and down playing at a fast pace.”

The winner of Wednesday’s semifinal contest will play for the district championship at 6 p.m. on Friday. Caruthersville is the top seed in the district.

“I really like where our team is at right now in the season,” Birmingham said. “Our guys have been working hard in practice and trying to improve on the areas we have struggled with during the season. We look forward to taking it one game at a time.”

Another team looking to make a deep postseason run is Puxico. The Indians were denied a chance to go to the final four last season when South Pemiscot hit a last-second shot in the state quarterfinals.

So far this season, Puxico is 23-1 entering Friday night and have won three tournaments this season — the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, the Stoddard County Activities Association Tournament and Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. The Indians also the top seed at the Class 2 District 3 Tournament at Bloomfield — and the defending district champion.

“Right now I feel we are playing our best basketball,” Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said. “Hopefully we can stay in a rhythm for the postseason.”

The Indians have a first-round bye and will face the winner of No. 4 Bloomfield and No. 5 Chaffee at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. The latter two schools will face off at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in first-round action. Other first-round games at Bloomfield include No. 2 Charleston facing No. 7 Advance at 4:30 p.m. Monday, followed by No. 3 Bernie taking on No. 6 Oran at 6 p.m.

One thing making Puxico's district interesting this year is Charleston, as the perennial state power has dropped to Class 2 this year. While the Bluejays are just 12-10 on the season, that record has come against one of the toughest schedules in Southeast Missouri, which includes a Valentine’s Day win over Woodland and an overtime loss to Class 6 Jackson.

“We have to defend and rebound at a high level,” Fernetti said. “The games we have lost in the past came down to rebounding.”