Year of the blowout

The lasting image of the 2005 Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament may be of the champion Notre Dame Bulldogs, but eventually the tournament will likely go down as the year of the blowout.

A last-second shot by Jackson's Drue McNeely in the championship game --won by Notre Dame, 74-65--put the total of single-digit scoring margins to three for the tournament in 26 games.

Kelly was involved in two of those games, including a 63-60 overtime win over Advance in the fifth-place game. The ninth-seeded Hawks played by far the most competitive four games of any team in the tournament, with scoring margins of 11 (against No. 8 Scott County Central), 10 (against No. 1 Charleston), five (against No. 4 Central) and three (against No. 6 Advance).

The Hawks made it to the championship game last year as the No. 7 seed before falling to Jackson.

Kelly coach Cory Johnson said his team was very resilient throughout the tournament, and having had success last season helped the team battle back during their three wins, even though the Hawks returned just one starter from a year ago.

"Because of our success last year, that gave them a lot of confidence," Johnson said.

The champion Bulldogs finished with an average winning margin of 26.5 points.

The voice

For the 13th straight year, Frank Ellis was the voice of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament, doing the public announcing duties for all 26 games.

Ellis won a state title as a basketball player with Charleston in 1980.

He was originally approached to do the tournament by former director Joey Haines in 1993.

"Since I know the game so well, it's easy for me," Ellis said.

Ellis had to stay neutral while announcing Friday's championship game although his son, Notre Dame senior Frankie Ellis, was playing in the title contest.

Ellis finished with 12 points and was one of three Notre Dame players on the all-tourney team.

"It will be kind of emotional," Frank Ellis said prior to the game. "I'm trying to stay professional with it."

Championship draws crowd

Four days of high school basketball at the Show Me Center culminated Friday night with a near-capacity crowd for the championship game between Notre Dame and Jackson.

Students from both schools overflowed the sections behind the baskets. The crowd was the largest of the tournament, and the biggest crowd at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament since the Jackson-Central championship game in 2003.