Cape Girardeau rivals venture to Show Me Center

College football has its rivalry week.

So does high school winter sports in Southeast Missouri.

The next seven days should be a good one for the high school fan. And at, or near, the top of the list will be a Central-Notre Dame showdown at the Show Me Center.

The schools' boys and girls basketball teams have previously played home-and-home games covering four different nights of the season. For the first time, it's one condensed night of orange and black against blue and white.

The big night is Tuesday when four rivals with winning records tangle.

The girls will open the rivalry evening with a 6 p.m. contest. The boys will follow at 7:30.

Central athletic director Terry Kitchen said the evening will be a bit of a throwback.

"Back when I played at Central in the late '60s, we played at Houck Field House," Kitchen said. "We'd play each other twice a year and both were at Houck. We did that every year for a good while."

Kitchen said when the gym was built at what is now the Central Junior High School, the Tigers would host the rivalry twice a year because of Notre Dame's small gym. In more recent years the schools shared the host duties.

With the addition of tournaments -- Farmington Invitational and HealthSouth Holiday Classic -- in recent years, the schools have found themselves with the possibility of facing each other as many as four times in a season.

Kitchen and Notre Dame athletic director Chris Janet decided to scale back to one regular-season meeting for two years with the games played on a neutral floor.

"If we don't like it we can always change back," Janet said. "I don't know if we'll be going back to playing twice a year, but we could alternate the site. We may like this and keep it and start a new tradition."

The evening has the potential for two good games.

"Both girls teams are having good years, and both boys teams are strong," Janet said.

Cost will be $3 for adults, $2 for students. Children 7 and under get free admission.

The same night will hold other big athletic events. Bell City's high-scoring boys basketball team will visit Scott City; Oran and Scott County Central will square off in a Scott-Mississippi Conference game in Morley, Mo.; and Charleston's boys will visit Jackson.

Parking should be at a premium around Jackson High School as the Indian wrestlers will face SEMO Conference rival Farmington in a dual wrestling match during the boys' basketball game. It's a must-see match. Jackson's wrestlers used a scintillating finish on Saturday to dethrone Farmington as SEMO Conference Tournament champions. The Knights will arrive with a score to settle after Jackson used a stunning scenario to eke out a half-point victory for the tournament championship.

Several big games lead up to Tuesday's finale, including Jackson's girls at Notre Dame on Thursday.

Semifinal opponents still have something to say about it, but Bell City and Dexter look to be on a collision course for Friday's championship game of the Stoddard County Tournament. Both teams, on a roll and unbeaten in conference games, broke the 100-point plateau in Monday's opening round. The tournament championship is set for 8:30 p.m. Friday at Bloomfield High School.

Perryville and St. Vincent will hold a boys and girls basketball showdown Saturday at the Perry Park Center. The girls will start the evening at 6 p.m. and the boys follow at 7:30. Junior varsity teams will play earlier.

jbreer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 124