HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE: TOUGH GYMN CONTEST ENDS IN DEADLOCK

According to high school coaches in the Southeast Missouri region, there are many gymnasiums which pose difficult atmospheres to play in if you happen to be the visiting team.

The Southeast Missourian polled 18 boys high school basketball coaches in its coverage area to inquire which schools they think are the most difficult to play. Each coach was to name three schools.

Twenty different schools ranging as far north as St. Vincent High School in Perryville and as far south as Portageville were mentioned as challenging places to win.

No one school received an overwhelming number of votes, but the top three vote-getters -- Marquand, Scott County Central and Notre Dame -- stood out above the rest. All three received seven votes.

Scott City received four votes, followed by Leopold with three.

Seven schools acquired two votes apiece.

All of the schools which netted more than two votes were Class 1A or 2A programs.

One reason for the large number of schools mentioned is, of course, that a lot of the region's teams don't play each other.

But there are several other reasons why so many schools were mentioned only once or twice.

Rivalries and the size of the gymnasiums play a big part.

For instance, Cape Central boasts some of the area's most rowdy and loyal fans. "The Jungle" -- the name for the Tigers' student section -- is flooded with clashing shades of orange, whether it be orange socks, shoes, face and body paint, blazers ... hair. And who could ignore the infamous whoooooaaaoooo, whoooooaaaaoooo chant during attempted free throws?

But since the Tigers' gymnasium is so big, the fans are muffled and the atmosphere falls short of electrifying.

Unless Jackson comes to town.

"Any time you play Jackson, it's like Christmas at church," Cape Central coach Brett Reutzel said. "You only see some of those people once a year."

Central shares a similar rivalry with Notre Dame. That's why Tiger Field House was mentioned by just two coaches, Jackson's Steve Burk and Notre Dame's Chris Janet, as one of the area's toughest places to play.

The Perryville/St. Vincent rivalry persuaded Perryville head coach Dean Lewis to name St. Vincent as a tough place to play.

Reutzel said the Tigers' rivalry with Notre Dame figured in listing Notre Dame as one of his top three.

Kelly coach Kent Mangels cited rivalry for one of the reasons he thought Scott City was such a tough place to play.

The list of such rivalries goes on and on so it's safe to say that home-court advantage isn't the same from opponent-to-opponent, much less game-to-game.

Nearly every coach polled mentioned Notre Dame's old "Pit" as being the most difficult place to play in years past. Now the Bulldogs play in a large, new facility and have perhaps lost a little bit of their hostile environment.

Notre is still thought of as being one of the area's toughest places to play, though. Its new gym is bigger, but still small enough to be crowded and loud if the right team visits.

"Notre Dame is one of the best teams in the area in defending their home court," said Reutzel who lost to the Bulldogs in the first-ever game played at the new facility. "They have very strong fan support and it's an intense rivalry too."

In addition to the size of the gym and the rivalries involved, the sustained quality of a team is a factor.

"(Home court advantage) varies from year to year with the talent not being the same every year," said Woodland coach Jennings Wilkinson. "Talent level has a lot to do with it."

Perennial basketball powers such as Charleston and Scott County Central obviously draw a faithful and boisterous bandwagon because of the success that they've enjoyed over the years.

Charleston, which hangs nine state championship banners, and Scott County Central, which has taken the Class 1A title 13 times, are two of the toughest places to play, according to coaches.

Another reason in the contradiction between the coaches' opinions is the different sizes of schools.

For example, Cape Central, a 4A school, doesn't play at Marquand, a 1A program.

The size of the school affects home court advantage in other less-subtle ways.

The larger schools usually have bigger and nicer facilities, but, as Reutzel pointed out, they also have to compete with other events.

When wrestling and swimming is added to the winter sports docket, it takes away from the home basketball crowd, even if the events aren't scheduled on the same night. After all, many parents and high school sports followers can't attend five sporting events in a week. They must choose one or two events to attend.

Plus, in Cape Central's case, the Tigers also lose some fans to Southeast Missouri State University's events and Notre Dame's basketball following.

"It's a tough draw for us sometimes," Reutzel said. "But you can count on certain people to be there every game."

Hosts with the most votes

Eighteen boys' basketball coaches in the Southeast Missourian coverage area were asked to name the three toughest gyms to play in regards to home-court advantage.

Schools which were mentioned with No. of votes in parentheses:

Marquand (7)

Notre Dame (7)

Scott County Central (7)

Scott City (4)

Leopold (3)

Bernie (2)

Cape Central (2)

Charleston (2)

Dexter (2)

Jackson (2)

Portageville (2)

Richland (2)

St. Vincent (2)

Sikeston (2)

Advance

Kelly

Kennett

New Madrid County Central

Oak Ridge

Oran

Poplar Bluff

Puxico

The subtleties

Lighting

Rims

Out of bounds space

Shooting background

Floor quality

The not so subtle

Crowd noise

Bus trip

Rivalry

Groundhogs