Class 4, District 1 boys and girls basketball tournament at a glance

Friday, February 24, 2017

The Class 4, District 1 boys and girls basketball tournament begins this weekend and the top seeds in each bracket are looking for a repeat.

Sikeston is the top seed on the boys side and Dexter is No. 1 in the girls bracket. The district starts Saturday and will be held at Ste. Genevieve High School.

Sikeston enters with a 21-4 record but have lost their last two games to Miller Career Academy and SEMO Conference mate Jackson to end the regular season.

The Bulldogs are led by 6-3 junior Fred Thatch who averages 26.3 points, 12.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.3 steals a game. Thatch has already verbally committed to Saint Louis University.

Sikeston received a first-round bye and will play on Monday at 6 p.m. against the winner of No. 3 Dexter (16-10) and No. 5 Perryville (14-12)

Second-seeded Cape Central (17-8) won its last two games of the season but lost three straight prior, including an 82-76 loss to Sikeston on the road Feb. 10.

Sikeston won last year's district tournament 59-55 over Cape Central.

The Tigers also received a bye in the first round and will open play at 7:30 p.m. Monday against the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal between third-seeded Notre Dame (20-6) and sixth-seeded host Ste. Genevieve (11-17).

Notre Dame has won 15 of its last 16 games dropping a 44-37 decision to Cape Central Jan. 31 during that stretch. Eight of those wins (Helias Catholic, Saxony Lutheran, Park Hill Central, Jackson, Kennett, Farmington, Carbondale, Ill. and Dexter) were decided by five points or less.

Dexter were once winners of 12 straight until losing to Advance during the championship game of the Stoddard County Tournament Jan. 27. Since then, the Bearcats are 3-4 and have lost their last four to Kennett, Poplar Bluff, Notre Dame and Cape Central.

GIRLS

Dexter is looking for their seventh straight district championship. They've faced Notre Dame, the second seed, four times and No. 3 Sikeston the last two times in title games.

Dexter (18-8) has won their last seven games and has been spearheaded by the sharpshooting Chaylea Mosby. Mosby recently broke the school record for threes made in a game going 8 for 8 during a win over Jackson to end the regular season.

The Bearcats received a first round bye and will face the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal between fourth-seeded Ste. Genevieve (19-8) and fifth-seeded Cape Central (11-14) Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Dexter won last year's district tournament 43-40 over Sikeston.

Notre Dame (16-8) won their final three games of the season over Chaffee, Neelyville and Poplar Bluff. The Bulldogs were the last team to win a District 1 championship not named Dexter in 2010.

Notre Dame also drew a bye in the opening round and will face the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal between third-seeded Sikeston and sixth-seeded Perryville (6-19) in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Sikeston (10-15) is still searching for its first district championship in school history. They made the last two district championship appearances falling to Dexter each time.

The Bulldogs lost their regular season finale to Ste. Genevieve on the road Wednesday but won their last three beforehand. Sikeston crushed their first round opponent, Perryville, 54-17 Jan. 23.

They are 0-2 against Dexter and lost both of those games by an average of 26 points already this season. They 1-2 against Notre Dame with their lone win coming during the third place game of the Kelso Supply Holiday Tournament 60-56. They lost the other two games 61-46 and 59-30.

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