FAVORED TEAMS PREVAIL IN 2A DISTRICT TOURNEY

BLOOMFIELD -- The boys quarterfinals of the Class 2A, District 2 Tournament Monday held no surprises as all four of the higher-seeded teams advanced to Thursday's semifinals.

Top-seeded Scott City rolled past eighth-seeded East Prairie 71-39; No. 2 Notre Dame routed No. 7 Bloomfield 72-33; No. 3 Woodland eased past No. 6 Greenville 69-45; and No. 4 Kelly needed some late heroics to slip past No. 5 Puxico 50-47.

Thursday, it will be Scott City vs. Kelly at 6:30 p.m. and Notre Dame vs. Woodland at 8.

Scott City (24-3) got back on the winning track after losing consecutive games to Dexter and Portageville.

"Hopefully we'll get some momentum going," said Scott City coach Derek McCord.

Ronald Watson led the Rams with 21 points, followed by Ryan Weatherspoon with 11 and Scott Johnston with 10. Scott City led 50-17 at halftime.

Notre Dame (16-10) overcame a shaky start to roll. The Bulldogs started off cold, missing their first nine shots from the field over the first 4 1/2 minutes as Bloomfield went up 5-0.

"We just couldn't do anything," said Notre Dame coach Chris Neff. "But once we got past that, out defensive intensity took over."

Despite the poor start, Notre Dame outscored Bloomfield 18-9 in the first quarter and took a 33-20 lead into halftime. The Bulldogs then romped in the second half.

Jonathon Ressel paced the Bulldogs with 13 points while Chris Dirnberger and John O'Rourke added 10 points apiece.

Woodland (14-10) got 18 points from Matt Cutsinger and 13 from both Jason Greer and C.W. Stacy. Cutsinger drilled five 3-pointers in the first half to help the Cardinals race to a 37-11 lead at the break.

"We really played well in the first half," said Woodland coach Jennings Wilkinson. "We played good defense."

Kelly (13-12) squeaked past Puxico thanks in large part to a 25-point offensive effort by Kelly's Michael Romas, whose conventional three-point play in the late going provided the margin of victory. Romas, the only Hawk in double figures, scored 13 fourth-quarter points.

Class 1A, District 2 Tournament

ADVANCE -- The favored teams all romped as they advanced to tonight's semifinals.

Top-seeded and host Advance clobbered No. 8 Richland 64-26; No. 2 Bernie routed Risco 80-54; No. 3 Scott County Central eased past Delta 66-46; and No. 4 Oran knocked off Bell City 76-54.

Advance (22-4) got 30 points from Garrett Broshuis as he nailed six 3-pointers. No player had more than eight points for the Hornets as they were able to clear their bench in the second half after building a 44-15 halftime lead. Sherome Cole scored 17 for Richland.

Bernie, which led 43-19 at halftime, was paced by Jason Karnes with 17 points, Bryan Waterman with 13, Derrick Stone with 12 and Dusty Stone with 10. Risco's Daniel Presley poured in 30 points.

Scott Central (17-9) opened up a 39-17 halftime lead and coasted. Jreece Johnson led the way with 24 points, followed by Todd Blissett and Terrance Williams with 12 apiece. Delta got 12 points from Josh Altenthal.

"I thought we played well in the first three quarters (the Braves led by 34 points late in the period), then I thought I'd rest people," said Scott Central coach Steve Wells. "I thought we played good team defense."

Oran (16-9), which led just 31-30 at halftime before breaking things open with a 31-13 third-quarter edge, got 29 points from Travis Friga and 20 from Philip Seyer. Scoring in double figures for Bell City were Gabe Scherer with 18, Jason Rampley with 13 and Nathan Walter with 10.

Tonight's semifinal matchups will feature Advance vs. Oran at 6 and Bernie vs. Scott Central at 7:30.

Class 1A, District 3 Tournament

FREDERICKTOWN -- Meadow Heights advanced while Oak Ridge saw its season come to a close.

Meadow Heights, the No. 8 seed, routed No. 9 Kingston 76-30 in a play-in game while No. 2 Viburnum knocked off No. 7 Oak Ridge 96-79 in a quarterfinal matchup.

No further details were received on either contest.

The three remaining quarterfinals will be today as No. 1 South Iron plays Meadow Heights at 5 p.m., No. 4 Leopold takes on No. 5 Marquand at 6:30 and No. 3 St. Vincent faces No. 6 Valle at 8.