JACKSON BANDS PERFORM MONDAY

The Jackson High School Symphonic Band and Freshman Band will be performing in concert Monday night, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m., in the old high school gymnasium.

The Freshman Band will perform four varied selections which include Theme from Robin Hood, Into the Storm, Roughriders' March and a medley of old standard tunes, including Peg of my Heart and Twelfth Street Rag.

The Symphonic Band's portion of the concert will be a tribute to John Philip Sousa. A history of his life, along with various Sousa marches will be played, much in the character in which he performed them. The concert will end with Sousa's renowned Stars and Stripes Forever.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. and is free to the public.

JACKSON GIRLS GET READY FOR ANOTHER DRIVE TO 4A FINALS

HeaJACKSON GIRLS GET READY FOR ANOTHER DRIVE TO 4A FINALSdline:

Jackson's girls are the team to beat in the Class 4A District 1 Tournamant.

Imagine that.

The Lady Indians, the top-ranked team in 4A, have made three straight final-four appearances, but will have to make it out of a tough district at Poplar Bluff to make it their fourth straight annual trip to Columbia.

The district is so tough, in fact, that the five teams involved sport a collective .742 winning percentage (89-31).

The Lady Indians' only loss in 22 tries this season came to Poplar Bluff, which is seeded No. 2, way back on Dec. 18 in the championship game of the HealthSouth Holiday Classic.

Jackson turned around and beat the Lady Mules on Jan. 4.

"You have to take it one game at a time," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. "Farmington has a good team -- any of the top four teams can win it. But I feel good about this bunch."

Lurking in the No. 3 spot is a surprising Cape Central team. The Lady Tigers field just two seniors on their 10-girl varsity roster, but enter the postseason with an impressive 18-6 record. Two of Central's losses came to Jackson and two more came to teams ranked either in the Class 3A or 4A top 10.

Central, like Jackson, split games with Poplar Bluff this year, losing the first one in the HealthSouth Classic, then beating the Lady Mules on their home court in January.

The Lady Tigers, who play Poplar Bluff at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a semifinal game, haven't won a district championship in 10 years, always succumbing to Jackson or the Lady Mules.

"There's no doubt this has got to be one of the toughest districts in the state," Central coach Darrick Smith said. "We feel we can compete with anyone, but we don't have the experience that Jackson or Bluff has.

"I'm optimistic about our group and I'm kind of excited. Our kids are ready to play. Sometimes you get the feeling that the girls are tight or are ready for the season to end. But I think we have the right frame of mind going in."

Farmington, who defeated Central earlier this year and gave Jackson about all that it could handle in a recent game, enters the district as the fourth seed with an impressive 21-5 mark.

"I wouldn't rule out Farmington," Smith said. "They could beat anyone on any given day."

Sikeston is the fifth seed at 9-14 and will play Farmington at 6 p.m. on Monday with the winner to play Jackson at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The championship game will be at 6 p.m. on Friday.