MSHSAA releases district, class realignments for football and basketball

The Missouri State High School Activities Association released its newest classifications based on enrollment breaks for football and basketball on Saturday, re-aligning several districts around the area.

In football, Scott City, Hayti and Portageville will drop a class and move to Class 1 District 1 -- a district that now features Barat Academy, Chaffee, Crystal City, St. Vincent and perennial power Valle Catholic.

Grandview will remain in Class 2 but will switch from District 2 to District 1, joining Caruthersville, Charleston, East Prairie, Jefferson, Kelly, Malden and St. Pius X. Jefferson was formerly in Class 1, while St. Pius X bumps down from Class 3.

Fox will move to Class 6 District 1, and Parkway South will move to Class 5 District 2, leaving Jackson, Oakville, Poplar Bluff, Rockwood Summit and Vianney in a five-team race for Class 5 District 1.

Class 4 District 1 remains intact with Cape Central, De Soto, Farmington, Festus, Hillsboro, North County, Perryville and Sikeston.

In basketball, Scott County Central will move back to Class 1 after spending two seasons in Class 2. A newly aligned Class 1 District 2 boys field features Advance, Bell City, Delta, Leopold, Marquand, Oak Ridge, Richland and Zalma.

Scott City will drop a class, while Oran moves up a class, joining Class 2 District 2 along with Bismarck, Chaffee, Kingston, Meadow Heights, St. Vincent and Valle Catholic.

Perennial power Charleston joins a loaded Class 3 District 1 field, featuring Caruthersville, New Madrid County Central, East Prairie, Kelly, Kennett, Malden and Portageville. Class 3 District 2 will feature Arcadia Valley, Clearwater, Doniphan, East Carter, Fredericktown, Saxony Lutheran, Twin Rivers and Woodland.

Ste. Genevieve replaces Kennett in Class 4 District 1, joining Cape Central, Dexter, Notre Dame, Perryville and Sikeston.

Class 5 District 1 -- Fox, Jackson, Northwest, Poplar Bluff and Seckman -- will remain intact.

New venues for state football, basketball

The MSHSAA Board of Directors approved new homes for its football and basketball state championships Friday.

The football finale -- the Show-Me Bowl -- for Classes 1-6 will be played this year at Missouri State's Plaster Stadium in Springfield, Missouri. The games will then move in 2017 to the University of Missouri's Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

The Show-Me Showdown basketball final four will have a new home beginning with the 2017-18 school year, with MSHSAA announcing a five-year contract to hold the event at Missouri State's JQH Arena in Springfield.

Class 1, 2 and 3 Thursday semifinal games will also be held at the school's Hammons Student Center.

The basketball championships have most recently been hosted by Mizzou, while the football championships were played at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

"We appreciate the work that the cities put into this bid process and we have taken this process very seriously," MSHSAA Executive Director Kerwin Urhahn said in a press release. "We are especially humbled by the amount of community support the city of Springfield showed in putting together its bids. We have an obligation to our membership to find not only the best facilities to host our championships, but also the best support from the host site to serve our schools needs."