Sikeston, Ste. Gen. cruise in district openers

The Class 4, District 1 boys basketball tournament opened to form Tuesday night at Notre Dame Regional High School when third-seeded Sikeston and fourth-seeded Ste. Genevieve advanced to the semifinals.

Sikeston ended the season for sixth-seeded Perryville 60-45, while Ste. Genevieve cruised to a 70-37 victory over fifth-seeded Fredericktown.

Sikeston (13-12) will face second-seeded Notre Dame (18-7) at 7:45 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals. Ste. Genevieve (20-5) will play top-seeded Dexter (20-4) in the first semifinal at 6 p.m.

Sikeston led just 35-33 at halftime, but the Bulldogs pulled away to a 49-38 lead by the end of the third quarter. Perryville (5-20) was held to 12 points in the second half.

Aaron Weibrecht, 14 points, was the only Pirate to finish in double figures.

Lavar Morgan, 19 points, led three Bulldogs in double figures. Lontas McClinton added 16, and Marcus McCaster had 13.

Ste. Genevieve outscored Fredericktown 40-19 in the first half en route to victory.

Matt Bader scored a game-high 17 points for Ste. Genevieve. D.J. Hinkle paced Fredericktown (10-14) with 13 points.

Meadow Heights 81, Chaffee 73

Meadow Heights held off a spirited comeback to win on the road.

Meadow Heights (17-6) led 42-24 at halftime but saw Chaffee surpass its first-half offensive output in the third quarter. The Red Devils, who trailed 55-48 entering the fourth quarter, pulled to within three points inside of two minutes remaining before Meadow Heights pulled away with free throws.

Freshman Terry Wagner hit four 3-pointers to score a team-high 25 points for the Panthers. Brad Adams added 16 points, and Joey Bell finished with 10.

James Reischman, who had a triple-double for Chaffee (5-16), scored a game-high 26 points, pulled in 12 rebounds and had 10 steals. Sam Burnett tallied 19 points, and Zac Horman had 16.

Oran 78, Woodland 49

Oran steadily pulled away from Woodland on its way to a home victory.

Nathan Seyer tied for game-high scoring honors with 23 points for Oran (19-6). Ryne Wood collected 16 points and Joey Bickings tallied 11.

Alex VanGennip matched Seyer's total for Woodland with 23 points. Travis Benfield added 15 points.

Oran led 35-25 at halftime and upped its advantage to 20 points by the close of the third quarter.

Leopold 52, Oak Ridge 36

Paul Hutchings hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead Leopold to a home win.

Leopold (10-13) raced out to a 32-11 halftime lead and led 38-23 after three quarters. Kevin Holzum added 14 points for the Wildcats, and Josh Van de Ven had 13. Alex Fadler led the Blue Jays with 20 points.

Zalma 61, Greenville 58

Chad Wiseman and Nick Hartmen each tallied 15 points to help Zalma to a road victory.

Jason West scored a game-high 23 points for Greenville, and Brandon Haynes added 20.

Zalma (9-11) led 33-28 at halftime and took a 44-36 lead into the fourth quarter.

Kelly 63, Delta 54

Lance Scheffer scored 20 points to lead Kelly to a road victory.

Trey Simmons added 13 points for the Hawks.

Joey Keys tallied 19 points for Delta (5-15), while Brent Menz had 12.

The teams were tied 12-12 entering the second quarter, but Kelly moved ahead 30-21 by halftime.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Kelly 56, East Carter County 49

Kelly limited East Carter to 10 first-half points, then held on for the road win.

Kelly led 23-10 at halftime but saw East Carter score 39 points in the second half.

Ashley Kern led Kelly (19-5) with 15 points, while Christy Kluesner finished with 13.

-- From staff reports