Tourney may tighten up in today's semifinal round

~ Charleston, Notre Dame, Jackson and Bell City form the final four after two days of lopsided scores.

After two days of blowouts and few surprises, the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament should start to tighten up today when the semifinal round begins at the Show Me Center.

Four of the top five seeds advanced to the semifinals, as only No. 5 Notre Dame pulled off a minor upset in the quarterfinals.

The Bulldogs will take on No. 1 Charleston at 6 p.m. tonight. In the other semifinal, No. 2 Jackson will face No. 3 Bell City at 7:30.

While the first 12 games in the winners bracket have been decided by an average of 32 points, the two semifinal games should provide a break from a tournament which has not produced a final margin in single digits.

The team with perhaps the most to prove will be the top-seeded Bluejays. Charleston (9-2) has not made it to the finals in either of the past two years after winning back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002.

"That's something on our minds," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said. "We felt last year we could have been in the finals, should have been. We're trying to get back there."

Charleston exercised some of its own demons on Tuesday, knocking off Kelly, which defeated the Bluejays in the quarterfinal round last year. The Bluejays, who settled for winning the fifth-place bracket last year, own the most Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament titles with 15.

Jamarcus Williams, a junior who earned second-team all-state honors last season, led the way for Charleston in the quarterfinals with 26 points. Junior point guard Shawn Sherrell, making his first appearance in a game in several weeks, added 10 points in the win.

Farmer said playing in plenty of big games over the past few seasons -- including last year's Class 3 state championship game -- should have his team ready for tonight's semifinal.

"I know it's going to be a challenge for us, and that's something we play in all the time," he said.

In order to reach their first championship game since 2002, the Blue Jays will have to find a way to beat Notre Dame's relentless press. The Bulldogs (8-1) forced numerous turnovers in a surprisingly lopsided win over rival Central in Tuesday's quarterfinal round.

Senior guards Frankie Ellis and Xavier Delph hounded the Tigers' young guards, leading to steals and bad passes. Delph finished with 18 points and Ellis had 12, with the two players combining for 22 in the first half.

Notre Dame lost to Charleston in 2002 in its most recent championship game appearance. Prior to that, the Bulldogs won the title in 1986.

Last year, the Bulldogs won the consolation championship before making a run to fourth place in Class 4.

Jackson vs. Bell City

In the other semifinal, two-time defending champion Jackson is looking to steam through its third small school opponent in its quest for a third straight title.

Jackson beat Chaffee by 44 in the opening round and routed No. 10 Meadow Heights by 51 in the quarterfinals.

Indians coach Darrin Scott said facing a small school opponent can be a sort of no-win situation for a Class 5 school like Jackson.

"Obviously, if they win it's a big win for them," Scott said. "If we win, we're supposed to win."

But the Class 1 Cubs are a little different from most small schools. Their seeding at No. 3 is one indication. Another is back-to-back final four appearances.

Bell City lost just one starter from last year's fourth-place squad and added 6-foot-9 junior Will Bogan to its lineup.

"They run the floor extremely well," Scott said of the Cubs. "They get out and go in transition. They have a lot of guys who can get a rebound and go."

Jackson can counter Bell City's big man with 6-11 senior Aaron Redecker. Redecker has not been forced to do much scoring for the Indians in the tournament, but he has had some big games this season.

"He tends to get a little more motivated when there's another big kid to play against," Scott said.

On the other side, Bell City (8-1) is attempting to make its first appearance in the championship game. The Cubs struggled at times in the quarterfinal round but still managed to beat No. 6 Advance by 23.

Bell City coach Brian Brandtner said he thinks right now Jackson may be the top team in the tournament.

"Watching the tournament, they're playing better than anyone in the tournament so far," Brandtner said.

A big challenge for the Cubs will be dealing with Jackson's size. The Indians have six players on their roster 6-4 or taller, and start two players 6-6 or taller. Bell City has just one player listed above 6-1.

"They're not just the Redecker kid inside," Brandtner said. "We're going to have to work on crashing the boards."

Other games

In the fifth-place bracket, No. 4 Central will play No. 9 Kelly at 3 p.m. and No. 6 Advance faces No. 10 Meadow Heights at 4:30.

In the consolation semifinals, No. 8 Scott County Central will play No. 13 Woodland at noon, followed by No. 7 Scott City against No. 14 Oran at 1:30 p.m.