THE LATEST LINE: CHARLESTON LOOKS LIKE A LOCK TO WIN U-HIGH TITLE

If ever a team looked like a lock to win the 53rd annual University High School Christmas Tournament, it's Charleston.

The Blue Jays often are seeded first and they've won more U-High championships than any other squad -- 11, all since 1975, including four of the past six.

But things don't always go according to plan in this annual boys basketball extravaganza, as was the case last year when Cape Central upset Charleston in the semifinals and then won the title by nipping Scott City in a thrilling final.

This year, however, the Blue Jays look like more of a favorite than ever, partly because they appear to have another outstanding team and partly because on paper there doesn't appear to be another squad physically capable of challenging the Jays.

It's hard for me to imagine any team other than Charleston winning the tournament that gets under way Friday at the Show Me Center.

But stranger things have happened. Will they this year?

We'll find out soon.

* The rest of the seeds for the U-High tournament, which will be played Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, are as follows (in order):

Kelly, Jackson, Scott City, Delta, Cape Central, Notre Dame, Oran, Woodland, Scott County Central, Bell City, Advance, Oak Ridge, Meadow Heights, Chaffee and Leopold.

Kelly, off to an undefeated start, has that community buzzing about its basketball team. The Hawks received their highest seeding in many years.

Some other small schools with strong teams this year also hope to make considerable noise, including Scott City and Delta.

And can anyone remember the last time perennial powerhouse Scott County Central received a seeding as low at 10th? It's got to be a long, long time. The Braves will hope to prove the coaches who seeded the tourney wrong.

While Charleston certainly appears to be a clear-cut favorite -- which doesn't necessarily mean the Blue Jays will win the title -- there appears to be more parity between the next several teams than there has been in a lot of years.

All in all, it should be another interesting tournament, especially once you get past the yearly first-round massacres.

* SEMO's basketball teams are in the middle of a break for the holidays. The Indians don't play again until Dec. 29 at Louisville while the Otahkians are off until Jan. 3 at Morehead State.

It has certainly been a solid pre-holiday portion of the season for each squad.

The 5-4 Indians have played some major programs extremely well, beating Bradley while dropping narrow decisions at Colorado and Missouri.

The 4-5 Otahkians have righted the ship after a sluggish start and are off to a 2-0 Ohio Valley Conference start, including a win over highly-regarded Austin Peay, which recently upset nationally-ranked Georgia.

There should be plenty of exciting basketball at the Show Me Center when second-semester play begins soon.

* Here's wishing everybody a merry Christmas and an overall wonderful holiday season.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian