Southeast men still look for big finish

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team is a virtual lock to earn its third straight Ohio Valley Conference tournament berth.

In fact, although no official announcement has been made yet, it appears as if, based on potential tie-breakers, the Redhawks already have clinched a tourney spot.

That's no small accomplishment considering the program ranked among the nation's worst when coach Dickey Nutt took over.

But I know Nutt, in his fourth year at Southeast, feels like the Redhawks were capable of so much more this season. I'm sure Southeast fans feel the same way. I certainly do.

The Redhawks, 14-15 overall and a sixth-place 6-8 in OVC play with two league games left, can't even match last year's conference record of 9-7 that saw Southeast tie for fourth place.

With so much returning talent, and having such a favorable league schedule as a member of the OVC West Division, I envisioned the Redhawks winning at least 10 conference games and at least 20 games overall.

Those 10 OVC victories are out of the question. The only way Southeast can get to 20 wins overall is by beating Austin Peay on Thursday and Murray State on Saturday -- both on the road to end the regular season -- and then winning next week's conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

All of that is not out of the question, but certainly not likely considering the Redhawks' up-and-down play for most of the campaign.

On the bright side, Southeast has played well recently. The Redhawks posted a three-game winning streak before dropping their last two contests in heart-breaking fashion, 67-65 at Jacksonville State on a goaltending call with nine seconds left and 85-82 on Saturday against Ball State on a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left.

The Redhawks certainly have the talent to make plenty of noise in Nashville, although as a seed guaranteed to be lower than fourth it will require four victories in four days to emerge as OVC tournament champions.

We won't have to wait long to see how things play out.

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Major congratulations to the Southeast women's track and field team, which won its first OVC indoor title since 2006 on Saturday.

Southeast's men were also strong again with a second-place finish.

Additional kudos go out to Southeast's Eric Crumpecker, named OVC women's indoor coach of the year.

Crumpecker has done a great job in continuing the tradition of Southeast's strong program following the retirement of longtime coach Joey Haines in 2008.

Track and field doesn't receive the attention of Southeast's higher-profile sports, but it has been one of the university's most successful programs for years.

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A book titled "The Athletic Hall of Fame of Southeast Missouri State University" is now on sale.

The book contains photos, interviews, notes, accomplishments, achievements and other information. Cost is $35 per copy with all proceeds going to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Books can be purchased by calling 651-2005.

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You can never count out the Scott County Central boys basketball team -- and I mean never.

That point was hammered home once again Friday night when the host Braves stunned Leopold in the Class 1 District 2 tournament final.

The Braves had one of their worst regular seasons in years, and Leopold posted a school-record 24 wins, which had most people -- myself included -- believing this was the season the Wildcats finally captured the program's first district championship.

Instead it will be the four-time defending Class 1 state champion Braves -- sporting just a 15-13 record -- moving on after their ninth straight district title.

Don't be surprised if SCC makes another trip to the final four.

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Somewhat lost in the shuffle among the local district-title winning prep basketball teams is what Chaffee's boys accomplished.

The Red Devils went 16-11, which might not seem like anything out of the ordinary.

But this year marked Chaffee's third straight winning season after the Red Devils had not posted a winning record in 31 years.

Chaffee's girls also did something notable, reaching the district tournament title game for the first time in years.

And speaking of notable, how about the freshmen-dominated Saxony Lutheran girls, who won their first district title and are considered a favorite to capture the Class 3 state crown.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.