ADVANCE, CAPE CENTRAL SHOW U-HIGH SEEDING MAY BE A BUBBLE OFF (PREP NOTES)

How different would the University High Christmas Tournament seeds be if the seeding meeting were held today instead of last Sunday?

Advance and Cape Central each picked up huge wins this past week that would've wreaked havoc on the top seven seeds.

Cape Central, after starting out 0-4, picked up a win over Perryville then knocked off previously unbeaten Farmington. Had those wins come before the seed meeting, the Tigers would've certainly been seeded higher than No. 7.

Advance, meanwhile, pulled off a mild upset on Friday night, knocking off Scott City in a game between undefeated and state-ranked schools.

Advance, ranked seventh in Class 1A and fifth in the Christmas tournament, beat the second seeded Rams, who were ranked sixth in Class 2A, 60-57.

To add further chaos among the top tier of seeds, third-seeded Jackson was beaten 49-47 by Kennett.

Dreaming of an orange Christmas?

While prep basketball fans in the immediate area are anticipating the U-High Christmas Tournament, people a little farther south are gearing up for a 16-tournament down at Bloomfield.

Dexter, arguably the best 3A school in all of Southeast Missouri, got the No. 1 seed, followed by Doniphan at No. 2, Portageville at No. 3 and Bernie at No. 4.

In another tournament, the Mules will host the Poplar Bluff Showdown, which includes McClellan high School of Little Rock, Ark., Vashon, Harrison High School of Kennesaw, Ga.; Northside High School of Memphis, Tenn. and Pine Bluff (Ark) High School.

Both tournaments begin on Dec. 27.

Teams make their points

There was an abnormal amount of high-scoring games Friday night in Southeast Missouri.

Oran defeated Delta 84-74, Woodland beat Fredericktown 80-70, Kelly beat Oak Ridge 94-74, Dexter beat Poplar Bluff 102-92 and Marquand beat Meadow Heights 90-84.

Marissa Essner goess on sscoring sspree

Marissa Essner scored a career-high 38 points Monday night against East Prairie, establishing what is thought to be a school record.

Essner, who is averaging about 22 points per game, could've had more, but Kelly coach Curtis Finley took her out with several minutes left.

It was Essner's second 30-point game this season.

Kelly improved to 6-0 overall with the win.

Essner, in addition to her basketball prowess, is also one of the top softball players in the region.