SIKESTON TOURNAMENT SET FOR 26TH ANNUAL RUN

One of the area's top early-season boys basketball tournaments will be played this week in Sikeston.

The 26th annual Sikeston Invitational, featuring seven teams, gets under way tonight and runs through Friday.

"It's always a great tournament," said Notre Dame coach Chris Janet. "The teams are all usually very good and there really are never any breathers in it."

Janet's Bulldogs, despite being the seventh and last seed (seedings were done prior to the season), are off to a solid 2-1 start that includes a win over Cape Girardeau Central and a narrow loss to Sikeston.

New Madrid County Central is seeded first, with traditional power Charleston second.

Host Sikeston is the third seed, followed by Cape Central, Blytheville (Ark.), Poplar Bluff and Notre Dame.

But, based on early-season results, those seedings might be meaningless. As mentioned earlier, Notre Dame has already beaten Cape Central. And Blytheville has already routed Sikeston.

"This tournament is always so difficult to seed because you're seeding before most teams have played any games," said Janet.

Tonight's first-round matchups feature Cape Central against Blytheville at 6 and Charleston against Notre Dame at 7:30.

The final opening-round contest, Sikeston vs. Poplar Bluff, will be played at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

New Madrid, which earned a first-round bye, will take on either Cape Central or Blytheville in one semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The other semifinal will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. There will also be a consolation semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The finals will be Friday, with the consolation final at 6 p.m., the third-place game at 7:30 and the championship contest at 9.

Cape Central enters the tournament with a 1-1 record after beating De Soto Friday night.

* The Chaffee girls tournament, featuring eight teams, will also get under way today.

Scott City is seeded first, followed by Kelly, Delta, Portageville, Chaffee, Oran, Sikeston and East Prairie.

Today's first-round games will be Scott City vs. East Prairie at 5:30 p.m., Portageville vs. Chaffee at 7 and Kelly vs. Sikeston at 8:30.

The final opening-round contest, between Delta and Oran, will be played at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, followed by a semifinal at 7 and a consolation semifinal at 8:30.

The other semifinal will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, following a consolation semifinal at 6:30.

After a day off Friday, the tournament will conclude Saturday with the consolation final at 5 p.m., the third-place game at 6:30 and the championship contest at 8.