New Salem girls seek third straight state title

~ After a first-round bye, they begin play Fridayin the Missouri Christian schools tournamentin Joplin.

New Salem Baptist Academy of Marble Hill will attempt to capture its third straight 2A girls Missouri Christian School Athletic Association state title when play begins today in Joplin.

New Salem is 15-1 with its only loss coming to People's Christian of Arnold at the St. Louis MCSAA conference tournament last week. The Eagles are the top seed and will have a bye into Friday's semifinals. Looming for New Salem is the winner of today's quarterfinal between No. 4 Training Center and No. 5 People's.

The Eagles have had quite a run of success in girls sports, capturing the volleyball title in the fall with an undefeated season. Last year, New Salem beat Training Center 39-27 in the championship game.

Also at Joplin will be Eagle Ridge Christian of Cape Girardeau. Eagle Ridge is seeded sixth and will play No. 3 Trinity Academy at 7 p.m. tonight.

The championship is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

On the boys side, Eagle Ridge is seeded second in Class 2A and will open today with No. 7 Northland Christian. New Salem, seeded third, will face No. 6 Outreach Christian at 5:30 p.m. tonight. The teams would meet at 7:30 p.m. on Friday if victorious.

Burger nominated

Notre Dame senior Kristain Burger has been nominated to compete in the McDonald's all-American game, becoming one of 1,000 finalists for the event.

Burger is averaging close to 19 points and 12 rebounds a game for the Bulldogs. Notre Dame is 16-8 this season and will head into the Class 4 District 1 tournament Monday as the No. 2 seed.

Last year, Burger was second-team all-state.

The 5-foot-11 forward signed with St. Louis University in the fall on an athletic scholarship to play softball for the Billikens. Burger was a three-time all-state player in softball.