Central, Jackson, ND open season in tourney

Farmington Invitational among several basketball tournaments opening tonight.

By Jeff Breer ~ Southeast Missourian

Farmington's Willis Gunder might be considered the mad scientists of athletic directors.

From his laboratory, err... office, Gunder has concocted a most unusual format for this year's Farmington Invitational that opens tonight at the Farmington Civic Center.

In both the boys' and girls' tournaments, which will include Central, Notre Dame and Jackson, Gunder has formulated a hybrid of bracket and round-robin formats.

"It's my own creation," Gunder said.

The creative thinking was a product of having just seven teams in the field after tournament newcomer New Madrid decided to withdraw on both the boys' and girls' sides.

While conventional thought would give the top seeds a bye, Gunder was bent on finding a way to get three games for most of the teams in the field.

To best accomplish that end, he arrived with four teams competing in bracket play and three teams in round robin. The winner of each will play in Saturday's championship games.

"It's going to get the best teams out there," Gunder said. "Everyone has a chance to play for the championship."

Every team will get three games except for one of the bracket teams.

Should all three teams in the round robin finish with 1-1 records, point differential -- much like football districts -- will be used to determine who plays for the title.

"It is unusual," Gunder said. "I've never seen one before. I played with it for a while. Everyone has the opportunity to win. And everyone has the opportunity to play better teams, either in the bracket or in round robin."

The tournament has also evolved to a much different look with the departure of most of its Mineral Area teams (Fredericktown, Potosi, Park Hills and North County). Jackson has been a fixture for years, but the field has since picked up Poplar Bluff, Notre Dame and Central, which competes for the first time this year. St. Louis area schools have also joined the mix with likes of Eureka and Riverview Gardens on the boys' side and St. Joseph's Academy and Fort Zumwalt South on the girls' side.

"It'll be an interesting tournament," said Central boys coach Derek McCord. "We're excited about it and it gives us the chance to get three games in early."

Fourth-seeded Central will open its season at 8 p.m. Tuesday against (5) Jackson in bracket play. Top-seeded Poplar Bluff and (7) Riverview Gardens will meet in Tuesday's other bracket game. Notre Dame, the third seed, will compete in the round-robin portion with (6) Farmington and (2) Eureka. Notre Dame will open its season at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against Farmington.

The boys championship will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

On the girls' side, (5 ) Central will compete in bracket play with (4) Poplar Bluff, (7) Fort Zumwalt South and (1) St. Joseph's Academy, the top-ranked team in St. Louis. Central will open its season at 5 p.m. Thursday against Poplar Bluff.

Last year's Class 2 state champion (2) Notre Dame and (3) Jackson will compete in the round-robin with (6) Farmington. Notre Dame opens its season at 6:30 p.m. today against Farmington. Jackson begins play at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against Farmington.

The championship game will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Poplar Bluff boys and girls are the defending champions.

Oran Invitational

A more conventional tournament will begin tonight with the 47th annual Oran Invitational.

The field consists of eight teams, including defending champion and top-seeded Twin Rivers, which kicks off the tournament against Richland at 5 p.m.

Defending Class 1 state champion Bell City is the second seed and opens against (7) Scott Central at 6:30 p.m. Oran, the third seed, follows at 8 p.m. against (6) North Pemiscot. The final first-round game will be held 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when (4) Kelly plays (5) Gideon.

The semifinals will be held Thursday night and the championship is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday.

Woodland Invitational

An eight-team field will also begin play tonight at Woodland High School in Marble Hill, Mo.

Top-seeded Advance, the defending champion, will face (8) Oak Ridge in the tournament opener at 5 p.m. The game will be followed by (4) Meadow Heights and (5) Bloomfield at 6:30 p.m. and (2) Woodland and (7) Delta at 8 p.m. The final first-round game will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when (3) Leopold meets (6) Zalma.

The semifinals will be held Thursday night and the championship will be decided at 8 p.m. Friday.