HIGH SEEDS PASS FIRST TEST

BLOOMFIELD -- The favored teams advanced in first-round games Monday in the Class 2A, District 2 boys basketball tournament.

Top-seeded Kelly beat No. 8 Greenville 55-45, No. 2 Scott City hammered No. 7 Puxico 93-73 and No. 3 Bloomfield outlasted No. 6 Bernie 51-47.

The final opening-round game, No. 4 Notre Dame versus No. 5 Woodland, will be played tonight at 5:30. The winner will play Kelly Thursday night at 6:30 and Scott City and Bloomfield will meet at 8.

Kelly never put Greenville away Monday. The Hawks (24-3) held a 12-9 first-quarter edge, led 25-19 at halftime and took a 39-33 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Jim Hulshof led Kelly with 19 points; Russ Mothershead added 12 and Denver Stuckey had 10. Jason Biederer's 19 points led Greenville.

In the second game, Scott City (25-2) lost senior point guard Tim Lowery in the second quarter with an injured wrist. Scott City coach Derek McCord said the wrist will be X-rayed today and that Lowery is probable for Thursday's semifinal game.

The win game the Rams their third straight 25-win season.

Scott City led 26-16 after one quarter and 47-31 at halftime.

Ryan Weatherspoon, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, had 27 points and 18 rebounds. Jon Beck finished with 19 points and Lance Amick added 10.

Puxico's Ryan Harmon had 21 points and Mike Owens added 20.

Class 1A, District 2

ORAN -- Second-seeded Scott County Central opened district play in explosive form, topping the century mark in a 105-62 rout of seventh-seeded Zalma Monday night.

The night went according to seeding as No. 3 Bell City defeated No. 6 Advance 73-69, and No. 4 Richland bumped off No. 5 Oran 79-70.

In tonight's semifinal action, Richland will face top-seeded Delta at 7 p.m. while Scott County Central and Bell City will meet at 8:30. The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday.

In Monday's action, Scott County broke out to a 28-9 lead in the first quarter and led 56-25 at the intermission. Jreece Johnson netted 18 points for the Braves. He was followed by Jon Fort 14, and Todd Blissett 13.

Tim Burchett netted 16 points for Zalma while teammates Chris Canoy and Cory Coffey each had 10.

Meanwhile, Advance took a 13-12 lead into the second quarter but Bell City outscored the Hornets 24-15 in the period, taking a 36-28 lead. Advance held a 41-37 scoring edge in the second half, but was unable to close the gap.

Matt Knoderer scored 20 points for Bell City, Jacob Jenkins netted 17 and Justin Stephens had 15.

For Advance, Gary Ahern scored 21 and Garrett Broshius added 18.

Richland featured three players with at least 21 points and it proved too much for Oran. Corey Gipson tallied 23 and teammates Pete Rutanga and Michael Vaughn each scored 21.

Billy Loper netted a game-high 24 points for Oran. He was followed by Chris Nichols 15, and Daniel Wheeler 14.

Richland jumped out to a 23-11 lead in the first quarter and led 38-27 at halftime. Richland took a 61-43 lead into the fourth quarter.

Class 1A, District 3

PATTON -- Ste. Genevieve Valle, Marquand and Leopold each advanced to Thursday's semifinal games with opening-round wins on Monday.

Top-seeded Valle beat No. 8 Lesterville 76-49. No. 2 Marquand topped Oak Ridge 83-60 and No. 5 Leopold edged Bunker 59-54.

No. 3 South Iron will face host Meadow Heights tonight at 8 in the final first-round game. Valle will play Leopold at 6 Thursday night and Marquand will meet the winner of today's game at 7:30.

Marquand built a 27-16 first-quarter edge against Oak Ridge and led 49-33 at halftime.

Marquand's Travis Braswell hit five 3-pointers and had 23 points. Dusty Stephens had a game-high 25 points, Steve Braswell added 14 and Brandon Settle finished with 14.

For Oak Ridge, Darren Hahs had 23 points and Eric Hobeck added 15.