Area teams start with tournaments

High school basketball kicks into gear Monday with the start of the Farmington, Woodland and Oran boys' tournaments.

Farmington will host local teams Central and Jackson as well as Hazelwood Central, one of the most highly regarded teams in the state. No. 2 Central will square off against No. 6 Riverview Gardens in the opener of the tournament at 8 p.m. Monday and will play No. 3 New Madrid County Central at 8 p.m. Friday.

No. 5 Jackson will open at 8 p.m. on Tuesday against host Farmington. Other first round games include top-seeded Hazelwood Central facing Eureka on Tuesday. The championship is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Along with the boys tournament, several local girls teams will be at Farmington for the girls tournament. Notre Dame, Jackson and Central will compete.

Scott City and first-year coach Lance Amick have the top seed at the Oran Tournament. The Rams will play Oran's JV team in the tournament opener at 5 p.m. Monday.

Bell City is No. 2 and will face No. 7 Richland at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Third-seeded Twin Rivers will play Oran at 8 p.m. Monday. The other first round game matches No. 4 Kelly against No. 5 Scott County Central at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday.

Advance drew the top seed in the Woodland Invitational and will face No. 8 Zalma at 5 p.m. Monday. Bloomfield, the No. 2 seed, will play Oak Ridge in the nightcap at 8 p.m. Monday. No. 4 Leopold faces Woodland in the second game Monday, and No. 3 Meadow Heights finishes off the first round games against Delta at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The championship is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday.

JV tournaments wrap up

Advance and Scott City's boys JV basketball teams clashed for the Advance JV Tournament title earlier this week. The Rams took the title with a 64-38 win. Scott City made it to the championship game with wins over Puxico and Dexter.

Farmington won the Central Girls JV Tournament on Wednesday with a 37-30 win over Jackson. Poplar Bluff finished third with a 36-24 win over Central. Notre Dame beat Dexter in the consolation final, and Chaffee beat Sikeston for seventh place.

Dragons RB goes for record

Adam Schwent, a senior running back for Ste. Genevieve, will go for the state single-season rushing record today when the Dragons face Harrisonville in the Class 3 state finals. Schwent has rushed for 2,950 yards this season and needs 145 yards to break Brad Hocker's record set in 1989.

College notes

St. Vincent graduate Danielle Sutterer led Murray State's volleyball team in blocks during its run through the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Racers won their third OVC tournament and claimed their first NCAA Tournament berth. Sutterer had a team-high five blocks in Murray State's championship sweep of Morehead State. Leopold graduate Holly Janzen also is on the Racers' team. Murray State will find out who they play in the tournament when the pairings are announced Sunday.

Sisters Lisa and Ashley Millham, Notre Dame graduates, have had a strong start as college teammates. Lisa, a sophomore, and Ashley, a freshman at Central Missouri State, had nine points apiece in the Jennies' 92-61 win over Central Arkansas Nov. 22. Ashley also had nine assists and seven rebounds. Ashley added 12 points in a 79-73 loss to Incarnate Word on Thursday at the Turkey Day Shootout in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Lilo Whitener, a Woodland graduate, is on the All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference second team for volleyball. Whitener led Webster University in blocks with 1.44 a game and was second on the team with 234 kills.