RAMS GET READY TO DEFEND 2A TURF

An ongoing quest to unveil an elusive plot will soon be solved and some key players will be eliminated in the process.

No, it's not the X-Files.

It's the Class 2A, District 2 boys basketball tournament which begins with one game at 6 p.m. Saturday when No. 8 East Prairie takes on No. 9 Chaffee for the right to play No. 1 Scott City at 4 p.m. Monday.

The semifinal games take place at 6:30 and 8 Thursday night and the championship game will tipoff at 8 on Friday night.

The big question to be answered during the tournament is can anyone dethrone Scott City?

The Rams have won three consecutive district titles. They've won 15 straight games. They've won at least 24 games in the past four years and during that span have won 104 contests in 118 tries.

Led by senior all-stater and McDonald's All-American nominee Jon Beck, the Rams, ranked No. 2 in the state, are looking for their first trip to the state's Final Four.

"We would really like a chance to get to the Final Four," Scott City coach Derek McCord said.

To advance to sectionals, the Rams would have to beat either Chaffee or East Prairie in the opening round (4 p.m. Monday), No. 4 Woodland or No. 5 Puxico in the semifinals and, likely, No. 2 Kelly or No. 3 Notre Dame for the championship.

Woodland plays Puxico at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The bottom bracket figures to be the most interesting.

No. 2 Kelly will play No. 7 Bloomfield at 7 p.m. Monday followed by No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 6 Greenville at 8:30.

Assuming there are no upsets, Notre Dame would play Kelly in a semifinal game.

Both teams are rolling into the district tournament. Notre Dame, after starting the year 4-11, has won eight of its last nine games to enter the postseason at an even 12-12.

"We've put together a really nice run," said Notre Dame coach Chris Janet. "It has done wonders for this bunch. The guys have just worked their way through a tough schedule and it has paid off and had made us a very competitive basketball team."

"I think Kelly and Notre Dame both are really on a hot streak and playing extremely well," said McCord who saw Kelly take his Rams into overtime earlier this season. "(Kelly's) one-two punch of (Jim) Hulshof and (Jason) Glastetter are just hard to stop. And Notre Dame has some good athletes and are just so deep.

"But Puxico and Woodland are very capable of upsets. Don't look past anybody."

Kelly has made a schedule adjustment after being upset by Woodland in last year's district.

"In years past, we've been off all week prior to districts," Kelly coach Kent Mangels said. "We're hoping the two games this week will sharpen us up and keep us focused."

Kelly has battled through several injuries this season, including a tough stretch without Hulshof, its leading scorer.

"I don't think we'll ever get to 100 percent on our injuries and with our conditioning," Mangels said. "But I'm proud of the way the kids played this season to get a 15-8 record. Right now, we want to focus on one game at a time and take them as they come."

This district tournament features some of the area's top players.

Beck, Hulshof, Glastetter, Woodland's David Massa, Scott City's Ronald Watson and Ryan Weatherspoon are a few of the players to watch.

Weatherspoon has offered four triple doubles this season, including one in Scott City's overtime win over Portageville on Tuesday.

Notre Dame's Zach Miller, who has recently found his shooting touch has also notched some impressive offensive performances in some recent games, including a near triple double (10 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds) in a win over Scott County Central.

GIRLS

The team to beat in the girls' district tournament is Notre Dame, which garnered the top seed despite having the fourth-best record in the tournament.

But when someone looks at the Lady Bulldogs' 12-12 record, he or she has to consider their losses: three to Jackson, three to Cape Central, one to Poplar Bluff, two to New Madrid and two to Perryville.

Notre Dame's girls enter the tournament with confidence considering they beat Kelly -- the No. 2 seed -- 57-27 on Feb. 19.

"I'm sure it gives the girls some confidence," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said. "But that doesn't really mean anything in districts. You have a bad game and someone will knock you out. You have to be prepared every game."

The first round of the girls' tournament gets under way Saturday. Kelly and No. 7 Woodland will kick off the tournament at noon, followed by No. 3 Scott City and No. 6 Puxico at 1:30 p.m. Notre Dame will play No. 8 East Prairie at 3 p.m., followed by No. 4 Greenville and No. 5 Chaffee at 4:30.

The semifinal games will take place back-to-back Tuesday with the upper bracket tipping off at 6:30 p.m. with the lower bracket to follow.