SE Missourian Christmas Tournament tidbits

~ Some quick notes on the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament:

Cinderella stars

The bottom five seeds in the 61st annual Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament have their work cut out for them in their first-round games, but some standout players will try to spearhead upset bids and entertain fans:

* Aaron Kinder, Delta: His coach called him one of the most athletic players in the area before the start of the season. Kinder, averaging 24 points per game for the No. 12 Bobcats, showed why by scoring 40 points in a little more than three quarters of work against Oran.

* Seth Gaines, Woodland: One of the area's top scorers at 26.7 points per game, the 5-foot-10 senior has scored more than 25 points in four games this season for the No. 13 Cardinals (2-4).

* Hunter Glastetter, Oran: One of leading scorers for the No. 14 Eagles along with sophomore Kody Campbell, the 6-3 junior Glastetter scored a season-high 27 points in an 89-73 loss to Scott County Central in the Oran Invitational.

* Andrew Hendrix, Chaffee: One year after being bounced from the tournament without cracking 20 points in either game, the Red Devils come back this year with a 3-2 record that already equals last year's win total. As the No. 15 seed, Chaffee will be hard-pressed to come out with a win this season, but three sophomores -- 5-11 Hendrix (19 points per game), Jerrod Steger (11.5 ppg), Steven Dooley (11.3 ppg) -- give the Red Devils hope for this year and beyond.

* Austin Hahs, Oak Ridge: The No. 16 Blue Jays are the only winless team in the tournament at 0-7, but Hahs has been among the area's top scorers in his senior season. The 6-2 senior carries an average of 17.4 points per game into the tournament.

Day Ones to watch

• Scott County Central (8) vs. Kelly (9): The Nos. 8-9 games always are enticing, and this year's is no exception. Scott County Central is 3-3 in its first year for coach David Heeb -- who won two state titles at Bell City -- and beat Kelly 75-66 in the Oran Invitational thanks to an eight-point spread in the third period. The Braves are led by sophomore guard D.D. Gillespie. Kelly (5-2) has one of the area's best defenses, allowing 54.3 points per game, and placed second in last year's tournament.

* Scott City (7) vs. Meadow Heights (10): The Rams (3-2) fell below .500 after getting hammered 71-48 by Advance and then pushing Poplar Bluff to the limit before losing 83-72. Meadow Heights (5-2) opened the season with a runner-up finish at Woodland's tournament that included pushing Notre Dame -- the No. 5 seed in the Christmas Tournament -- to overtime.

On the horizon

• Central vs. Notre Dame. The Cape Girardeau rivals' first meeting of this season could come 9 p.m. Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round. Central (5-3) has won five of six games, while Notre Dame (7-1) has the Woodland Invitational title on its resume.

* Will Bogan vs. Aaron Redecker. If the No. 2 seed Jackson Indians advance to play No. 3 Bell City in Thursday night's semifinal round, it will be a battle of big men at 7:30 p.m.. Redecker is a 6-11 senior and Bogan is a 6-10, 300-pound junior.

-- Toby Carrig