Semoball Cup finalists announced, breaking down top 10 programs

Representatives of Jackson High School gather with the Semoball Cup, winning the 2023 iteration of the award at the 2023 Semoball Awards on Friday, July 14 in La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

The 11th annual Semoball Cup chase has been narrowed down to the final 10 teams, and it’s a field packed with talent from schools both big and small.

Six of the first 10 Semoball Cups belong to teams that enter the top-10 phase of this year’s cycle, including the reigning champions in the Jackson Indians.

Joining Jackson in the final phase is fellow powerhouse Notre Dame, with the two schools combining for five Cups in the past decade.

But aside from those two regulars, this year’s Cup finalists largely came from the area’s smaller schools, with four state championship squads reaching the final stage.

Advance, Chaffee, Holcomb, New Madrid County Central, Oran, Portageville, St. Vincent and Woodland all climbed to reach the top 10 in the area with big years within their programs.

Advance’s girls volleyball team, New Madrid County Central’s boys basketball team, Oran’s baseball team and Woodland’s boys cross country team all took home state titles to get their schools here.

We’ll break down how each school got to this point, going in alphabetical order as we break down our final 10 contenders for the 11th Semoball Cup, including some of their best teams.

Advance Hornets

Making their sixth appearance in the top 10, largely behind the efforts of their dominant volleyball program and some mid-2010s hoops success, Advance is no stranger to this stage.

So much so that the tiny school was able to take home the whole thing in 2020, grabbing the Semoball Cup in its seventh year.

With another state title led by coach Erin Hoffman in the fall, the Hornet volleyball team gave a huge boost to the program to shoot it all the way into the top 10 for the 2024 cycle.

Despite a slower winter season, the softball team came out the gates hot and pushed all the way into the quarterfinals before eventually losing to a tough, tough Holcomb squad.

Still, a phenomenal 20-3 record for that softball squad gave a big boost to the Hornets’ title hopes ahead of the July 12 Semoball Awards.

Chaffee Red Devils

The highest-ever finish for the Chaffee Red Devils, this marks their first-ever appearance in the Semoball Cup top 10 after a ridiculous season from their diamond sports.

Earlier this year, the Red Devil softball team made waves in Southeast Missouri as one of the clear-cut top teams in the area, and they went on to prove it in the postseason.

Traveling all the way up to the state championship game, a narrow loss still allowed Chaffee to take home second-place honors in the state.

Later on, the baseball team made good on its efforts in 2023 with another trip to the state final four, its first-ever appearance in back-to-back final four tournaments.

Finishing third in the state, Chaffee baseball supplied a big boost to Chaffee’s title hopes, including a 26-5 record to help bolster the winning percentage ahead of a tight battle for first.

Holcomb Hornets

For the third time in four years, it’s Holcomb heading back to the top 10 at the Semoball Awards, and for some great reason.

Its partnership with Kennett in the tennis world brought it a quarterfinal berth and an individual state championship, with sophomore Claire Bean’s double pairing with Handley McAtee bringing home the doubles title.

The Hornets softball team made its name known in 2024 as well, powering past a tough Advance team for a final-four berth, finishing third in the state.

Mercy is the presenting sponsor of the Semoball Awards, the area’s premier awards show recognizing student-athletes and coaches in Southeast Missouri.

Holcomb’s volleyball team also worked to bring home a district title, finishing 21-11-2 to put a bow on top of a phenomenal year in the female sports realm.

Jackson Indians

The reigning champs, having taken home two of the past three championships, Jackson certainly made another strong case for the title again in 2024.

Now in the state’s top class in all sports, the Indians won three district titles in the fall but slowed down the stretch in the postseason.

Still yet, some great seasons by winning percentage made for another dazzling year at the Semoball Awards for the Indians.

Not a single Jackson program finished under the .500 mark for the season, with the Indians finishing the year with the second-best winning percentage in Southeast Missouri: 73.73 percent.

Winning district titles in football, girls soccer, softball and girls volleyball, Jackson still got some hardware to back up that winning percentage as well.

New Madrid County Central Eagles

If you want to make a case for having one of the best programs on this side of the state, winning back-to-back state championships on the hardwood is a great way to do it.

So did the New Madrid County Central boys basketball team, led by the undeniable efforts of Jadis Jones, winner of the Mr. Show-Me Basketball Award, and many others this winter.

Bringing home the gold there, some great performances in other sports, such as a nearly-undefeated football regular season and the freshman efforts of Amya Bills, helped out too.

Winning three state titles as a freshman, Bills helped push the Eagles to a fifth-place finish in the state and, in time, their highest-ever finish as a program as they enter the Semoball Cup top 10.

Already pushing for some big individual nominations this summer at the Semoball Awards, those performances have the Eagle athletic program in a great spot as the chase for the Cup heats up.

Notre Dame Bulldogs

There’s no team more consistent than the Notre Dame Bulldogs, so it seems, as they’re the leader in Semoball Cup wins at three and maintain the best average finish every year.

The Bulldogs have missed out on the top 10 just once in the 11 years of the Cup’s existence, and maintain an area-best average position of 4.0 since the Cup’s inception in 2014.

Now, in 2024, they again enter the top 10 and are vying for that top spot ahead of the Semoball Awards ceremony next month, and for great reason.

The girls track and field team put together a ridiculous year, led by the surreal efforts of Lauren Eftink. The third-place finish there put a tremendous boost to the Bulldogs’ yearly score.

Not only did Eftink excel on the track, but her second-place individual finish at the state cross country meet also helped Notre Dame to finish 10th there and take home another big bonus.

With an impressive 60.89 win percentage as a program this year, the Bulldogs rose above the pack in many different sports and their district title haul gave a big hike to their postseason total as well.

That in mind, Notre Dame possesses an excellent chance to come away with the Cup, and it should come as no surprise given the pedigree that the program has established already.

Oran Eagles

Time after time, Oran has shown that it’s all about banners, and the Eagles hung yet another after the spring season.

Projected among the top teams in Class 1 baseball, Oran lived up to the hype as it outscored state final-four competition 22-1 to take home the program’s fourth state championship.

The Eagles’ softball team also put together a great season, finishing five games over the .500 mark, while the boys track and field team brought home an individual state championship.

Oran’s Aiden Scheeter got the Eagles on the board with a victory in the boys 400m para to give a nice-sized boost to the Eagles’ individual score.

The top-10 appearance makes it eight as a program for Oran – the most of any small school in the area, third in total and just two appearances back from first.

Portageville Bulldogs

It was an unforgettable year for Portageville athletics, dominating local competition en route to one of the top finishes of any school in Southeast Missouri.

Finishing 126-41-2 in head-to-head sports, the Bulldogs came away with the best winning percentage in this year’s cycle: 74.56 percent.

Not just that, but the sports themselves made some deep, deep runs as well.

Baseball, girls basketball and football all made their ways to the quarterfinal stage of the state playoffs, while the Bulldog volleyball team won a district title before bowing out in the sectionals.

Up for some serious hardware in this year’s Semoball Awards, Portageville made the most of its phenomenal individual talent by making some big runs in the postseason.

Now, the Bulldogs are set up to finish as one of the top teams in the Semoball Cup cycle, and have a real shot at taking the No. 1 spot come July.

St. Vincent Indians

St. Vincent dominated the postseason. How many schools can say that? Not many.

Football made it to the semifinals. Boys golf finished second in the entire state. Boys cross country placed 10th at state, girls track ninth. Boys basketball and volleyball each won districts.

That success even extended to individuals, as Payton Strattman took home an individual state championship in golf while freshman Reagan Meyer grabbed two state titles in girls track and field.

The list goes on, and on, and on. Despite a winning percentage hovering right around 50 percent as a program, the Indians had one of the best years on record in the playoffs.

Racking up some serious points in the postseason, it pushed St. Vincent all the way to the top 10 in this year’s Semoball Cup cycle, their seventh in the Cup’s history.

It also makes back-to-back appearances in the top 10, placing eighth in last year’s cycle as the Indians are highly familiar with this phase.

Woodland Cardinals

What better way to punch your first-ever ticket into the Semoball Cup top 10 than by hanging your second banner, finishing second and adding a fifth-place finish in the spring?

Coach of the Year finalist Ryan Layton had the Woodland runners in ship shape, resulting in an unbelievable year in cross country and track and field.

Boys cross country not only took home a state title in the fall, but senior runner Reed Layton won the individual championship to double down on the gold haul.

Following in their footsteps, the Woodland girls cross country team not only excelled, but a second-place finish saw Layton’s squads take home a gold and a silver back-to-back.

To top it all off, a fifth-place finish in the spring boys track and field finals got Woodland the little bonus it needed to put a bow on an unbelievable year that sent the Cardinals hurling into the top 10.

With a previous-best finish of 12th in the inaugural Semoball Cup cycle back in 2014, this year’s Woodland squad has the potential to do some serious damage in July.