Area tournaments begin play tonight

Three area tournaments will help launch the high school basketball season this week.

Action begins tonight with the Oran Invitational Tournament in Oran, Mo., the Woodland Invitational in Marble Hill, Mo., and the Farmington Tournament in Farmington, Mo. The former two tournaments are for boys, while the latter has both a boys and girls division.

Scott City is seeded first in the Oran Invitational, which has eight teams in the field. The Rams will open the tournament with No. 8 Richland today at 5 p.m. The contest will be followed by No. 2 Twin Rivers and No. 7 Oran at 6:30, while No. 3 Bell City and No. 6 East Prairie will play at 8. The final first-round game will be played on Tuesday, when No. 4 Kelly meets No. 5 Scott County Central at 6:30 p.m.

The tournament semifinals will be held Thursday, while the championship is slated for 8 p.m. Friday.

Advance has drawn the top-seed at the Woodland Invitational and will play No. 8 Zalma at 5 p.m. today. Other games tonight will feature No. 4 Leopold and No. 5 Woodland at 6:30, and No. 3 Meadow Heights and No. 6 Oak Ridge at 8. Delta, the second seed, and No. 5 Bloomfield will complete first-round play at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The first-round semifinal winners will meet on Thursday, and the championship game will be played at 8 p.m. Friday.

The Farmington Tournament will feature a bracket format for the girls and round-robin for the boys.

Cape Girardeau Central's girls, seeded eighth, will be in action tonight against top-seeded Poplar Bluff at 6. Fourth-seeded Notre Dame will follow against No. 5 Lutheran South at 7:30. Jackson, which won the West Plains Zizzer Classic over the weekend, is seeded third and will face No. 6 Jennings at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Farmington, the second seed, will face No. 7 Ft. Zumwalt South at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The semifinals and final will move to the Farmington Civic Center. The semifinals will take place on Friday, with the championship to be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The boys' round robin will feature Farmington, Jackson, Central and Ft. Zumwalt West.

Central and Jackson will both open their seasons on Wednesday. Central will face Zumwalt West at 6 p.m., while Jackson will take on Farmington at 7:30. Both games will be at Farmington High School.

Tournament play moves to the Civic Center on Friday, with Jackson playing Zumwalt at 4 p.m. and Central meeting Farmington at 5:30. Jackson and Central will meet at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.