Preview: District champions will be decided Thurday night

Eight area basketball teams will vie for five district championships tonight.

The winners will move on to next week's state sectional round, the Sweet Sixteen of high school basketball.

The top-seeded Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team will try to reach the sectional round for a second year in a row when it takes on No. 2 Arcadia Valley in the Class 3 District 2 final at 6 p.m. at Clearwater High School in Piedmont, Mo.

Last year's Crusaders' lineup featured multiple freshmen, who experienced postseason play for the first time before bowing out to Twin Rivers in a sectional.

"It's kind of hard to put my finger on it," Saxony coach Sam Sides of the difference in this year's team's approach from last year's. "But you hope that one year of playing together has given us some experience, a little more confidence and knowing what to expect, help us to be prepared. You hope for that for sure."

The Crusaders have yet to be challenged in the district tournament, winning 77-23 over Scott City in the opening round and 54-36 over St. Pius in the semifinals.

"I've watched them play a couple games," Sides said of Arcadia Valley. "They're a pretty solid team. They're fairly young. They've got good size and they shoot the ball well. ... They play a little man, but mainly they play a zone. They're pretty fundamental, so we'll have to do a good job of guarding them because they have balanced scoring. I think they've got every person that starts for them is averaging around eight, nine points a game. They've got one girl averages over 10, but other than that they've got good, balanced scoring. They've got a good, balanced team, so we'll have a tough game."

Class 1 District 2

Last season the Leopold boys basketball team was a favorite to claim the school's first district title in the sport before the Wildcats were shocked by Scott County Central in a 64-58 loss in the championship game.

This season the second-seeded Wildcats enter today's 7:30 p.m. rematch at Delta High School as the underdogs.

"Last year's team it was kind of a new thing being in that district championship," Leopold coach Andy Beck said. "You know, the year before they hadn't been in it, so this year it's a little more relaxed. The kids are a little more focused. Last year was a lot of nerves."

The teams did not play in the regular season but did face off in a preseason scrimmage at Jackson High School, where the teams played three close quarters. Beck said he thinks the experience will help his team.

"I think it does," he said. "And we picked up teams that are athletic and quick like Clarkton -- they pressed us the whole time. Just to kind of get ready for that kind of game and that kind of atmosphere. Playing [SCC] I think helped us, too. It kind of took the fear away. We've got a couple younger guys, we've got a couple juniors who played big roles and a big sophomore, so it was good for those guys to get in that situation and play Scott County -- they've never done it before -- and held our own against them, and that was really good. That kind of boosted their confidence a little bit."

Beck said he's kept the focus on what his team needs to do to have success rather than on what SCC will do, a change from last year.

"We've just got to get ready for their pressure, and we know what's coming," Beck said. "We just kind of have to play our game. We know last year we focused a lot on what they did and didn't focus as much on what we should have done. This year is more focused on what we do and do the things we do and kind of trusting the system a little bit."

The top-seeded SCC girls team will take on host Delta at 6 p.m. in another rematch of last season. The Bravettes defeated Delta 79-25 in last year girls championship.

Class 2 District 3

The top-seeded Oran girls basketball team will try to win it's first district title since 2000 when it faces No. 2 Bismarck at 6 p.m. at Chaffee High School.

The Eagles lost to eventual champion Bismarck 64-46 in the opening round of last year's district tournament but have looked like a championship contender all of this year and enter as favorites.

Oran and Advance will face off at 7:30 p.m. for the boys title in what has become a yearly tradition. The top-seeded Eagles have defeated Advance for the championship each of the last three seasons, including a 81-74 victory last year on their way the Class 2 final four.

Although Oran is seeded higher, the No. 3 Hornets might actually be the favorites entering the contest. Advance defeated the Eagles 76-61 at home after the seedings were released.

As it was in the previous matchup, Oran will be without injured senior Chance Tenkhoff, a fierce defender and a Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament all-tournament team member, but the Eagles looked sharp in a 95-63 win over Ellington in the semifinals led by senior Seth Ressel.

Advance faced a tougher test before defeating host Chaffee 77-67 in an emotional game to book its spot in the final. The Eagles attention will no doubt be on Advance's senior standout Lane Below, who burned Oran for 49 points in his team's win on Feb. 18.