Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Ten games to see before the season ends

Let's face it, Jackson vs. Sikeston Part II was a dud. Tuesday's other two big ones — Malden at Charleston and Lesterville at South Iron — were better, but hardly nail-biters.

So now the question: What are the 10 boys basketball games to start looking forward to now?

Get out your calendars. Here we go.

January 29: North County at Fredericktown, Jackson at Charleston. We've seen both of these games already, both times in early-season tournaments on neutral courts. Fredericktown defeated North County by three points in Illinois, and Charleston knocked off Jackson at the SEMO Conference Tournament. Expect loud crowds and a packed house for these two.

February 1: Thayer at Salem. They might not be competing for the lead in the South Central Association (where Willow Springs since in the top spot), but that won't diminish the stakes. Thayer's only loss was to state-ranked Willow Springs, and Salem has tournaments titles from Farmington and St. James to its credit.

February 2: Bell City at South Iron. Both teams can move, both teams can run, so there's the potential for a high-scoring, small-school shootout in South Iron's final home game of the season. There's also a chance the two will be a combined 37-2 heading into this one.

February 5: Clarkton at Malden, Cape Girardeau Central vs. Jackson. Both feature nearby rivals going head-to-head. Clarkton and Malden have spent the entire season in our Top 25 poll, and Central faces Jackson for the third time since late November (Jackson owns 58-54 and 58-38 wins so far), this time at the Show Me Center.

February 12: Malden at Doniphan, Hayti at Bell City. It's the time of year for teams to gain momentum heading toward district playoffs. A wins in either of these games will be a big lift.

February 15: Portageville at NMCC. Until the late '90s, these two rarely met on a basketball court. But this year's version of the annual game between the New Madrid County schools is likely to feature a pair of Top 25 teams, not to mention bragging rights.


February 21: Kingston at Grandview.
Futility? Just ask either one of these teams. Kingston ended a losing streak at 97 games when it defeated Grandview in December. Grandview, which hasn't won yet this season, will look for payback on its home court in the teams' second meeting of the season. It won't mean much in the standings, but this should be one of the most emotional games of the year.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

These will all be good games, But How could you not put Sikeston Vs ND as one to watch? I know u cant count ur chickens b4 they hatch, but lets face it, both of these teams will be in the DC game. I think this one, like last year, will be the game of the year...

semosportswebFAN said...

This may be a bold comment, but Im starting to think Sikeston is getting a little too much praise. I think Sikeston is a good team, but I strongly feel that they are just not a GREAT team. They have the talent to be, but for some reason I just dont see this team as a very good team anymore.

JAMIE HALL said...

My list was based strictly on games still to come in the regular season. If ND and Sikeston meet again in the district playoffs, of course that would be one to see.

Anonymous said...

Sikeston is a very good team, as well as Jackson. I know i may be a llittle biased, but i know alot about the team, seeing as how I see them everyday.
They are young, Wiggins at point is still learning the game, plus it was our first real game not having mike, since he was in foul trouble all game, and i dont think we knew how to adjust to that. We have an enormous amount of talent, and youd know if you came to watch us. We got caught on one bad game, and ppl think we are overated, or not a great team. I think that is unfair to Sikeston, as well as other teams around the area.....

semosportswebFAN said...

I may have gone a little too far. I really do think Sikeston is a good team. To me, and this is just an opinion, I think Sikeston needs to kick it up a notch. I just cant get myself to say they are an unstopable force. But, they are a good team.

Anonymous said...

agreed

Larry Doby said...

maybe we can get a webcast of the
February 21: Kingston at Grandview epic?