Cape Central wins 76th annual Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament

Cape Girardeau Central High was the No. 1 seed coming into the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament. The expectations were high. But entering Day 1 of the tournament, the Tigers were 0-3 to begin their season. That would soon change.

Central defeated Bell City, Woodland and Charleston to make it to the championship game of the annual tournament at the Show Me Center. The Tigers faced crosstown rival Notre Dame in the title game. Central and Notre Dame were fairly evenly matched through much of the game before the Tigers took control to win 51-43.

It was a different kind of year for the 76th annual tournament. Attendances was limited because of the pandemic, but about 1,100 fans were still in attendance for the championship with hundreds more watching the Semoball.com livestream.

Hats off to everyone who made this year's tournament possible, from tournament director Matt Asher to the Show Me Center staff who went to great lengths in providing as safe an atmosphere as possible to the sponsors, players, coaches and officials.

Special thanks to Montgomery Bank, Hudson Chiropractic and Auto Tire & Parts for sponsoring the livestream and our coverage of the tournament.

The all-tournament team was: Hayden Jansen (Notre Dame), Caleb LeGrand (Notre Dame), Cameron Harris (Cape Central), Tyrome Huff (Cape Central), Rico Coleman (Charleston), Colby Crader (Delta), Joel McClain (Kelly), Gavin Jansen (Kelly), Caleb Schaab (Leopold) and Tristan Mayfield (Meadow Heights). Chaffee senior Jagger Sadler won the Fan-Voted MVP with his 49 points scored over two games.

Congratulations to all of the teams who competed, with a special nod to Cape Central for its championship win. We look forward to the 2021 tournament, hopefully with the atmosphere and attendance we've come to expect.