Charleston Bluejays prove worthy champs at Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament

There was no underdog story at the Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament this year.

At the end of championship night, the No. 1 seed finished No. 1. Second took home second, third and fourth just were flip-flopped, the No. 5 seed finished fifth and, as the bracket is designed, the No. 9 seed emerged as the winner of the consolation bracket.

I'm fine with this. I've never wanted to be an underdog and never am pleased to find the team or person I cheer for is one. It just goes against my nature, I suppose.

I know some people prefer the little guys, or in this case the lower seeds, come out on top, and I enjoy watching those stories unfold from time to time. Sports wouldn't be wonderful if we knew the outcome before the games started.

But I also enjoy watching the better team prove that it is the better team.

I admire winners that set the standard that everyone else tries to match.

I especially admire the way the Charleston Bluejays did that on their way to winning the tournament championship.

After their expected first-round romp, the Bluejays defeated Scott City, Central and Notre Dame.

They didn't win by ridiculous margins like the Scott County Central Braves did on their way to the previous three tournament titles, but their wins of seven, 11 and eight points never seemed that close. At least not once they finally subdued Scott City in the fourth quarter on Day 2.

Did it always make for a thrilling spectator experience? No. Were they always playing their best? Probably not.

But Greg Tucker, Ryan Parham and company took on their opponents with a sort of calm, calculated confidence that stood out to me.

They never got too excited when things were going good, never looked panicked when things went wrong and never looked bothered by their opponents' tactics.

There was a quiet word exchanged here and there on the court between players and some direction from coach Danny Farmer when needed, but mostly there was a good basketball team playing better basketball than its opponent.

So here's to the favorite, the champion, the Charleston Bluejays.

It's hard to believe it's been nine years since the tournament crown belonged to them. It's not hard to imagine that there are more championships in store for them this season.

Other notes

* Alex Crowe likes the Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament. The Chaffee senior made the all-tournament team for the second consecutive season, this time pouring in 31 points on Day 4 to help the Red Devils win back-to-back consolation titles.

* Notre Dame is good. I know this isn't news considering all its already done this season, but I hadn't seen the Bulldogs before the tournament. Their semifinal rout of Scott County Central was eye-opening, and it's not easy to find a weak spot. My apologies to those who are not fans of this reality.

* Central's T.J. Tisdell has the best haircut of any player in the tournament. The semi-Mohawk and almost-flat top combination works. I notice the important things. He also was the tournament's leading scorer with 85 points.

* Oran's Kody Moore and Delta's Greg Brawley both deserve some recognition despite not making the all-tournament team. Moore made nine 3-pointers and scored 29 points in a Day 3 loss to Chaffee. Brawley averaged 23 points a game for Delta.

* A fourth-place finish in the tournament is fantastic for a Class 1 school. Let's try to remember that when assessing the Scott County Central Braves.

* I thought Scott City senior Zach Cotner's performance against Charleston was as good as any individual performance in the tournament.

* Bell City coach Nate Wills can pull off a bow tie.

* Lastly, thank you to all of you who joined us on semoball.com and read the tournament coverage in the Southeast Missourian. I genuinely enjoy chatting with thousands of you throughout the tournament and love it when you stop by to say hello.

Rachel Crader is editor of semoball.com. You can reach her at rcrader@semissourian.com.