Annual tournament establishes trend favoring top seeds

~ Only three schools have won the tournament in 10 years.

A weakened field in recent years has led the Saint Francis Medical Center Holiday Classic girls basketball tournament to become a predictable, nearly upset-free tournament.

With a pair of small schools possessing the bottom two seeds and several rebuilding programs in the middle, this year's version appears ripe for domination again by the top seeds. Play will begin today at the Show Me Center in the eight-team field.

The semifinals are Thursday, and the championship is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Friday.

During the tournament's past 10 years, only three teams have won the tournament. Poplar Bluff, the winner of five tournament titles, left the field after collecting its fifth title in 2002. Jackson, a four-time winner, has captured the tournament each of the three years since the Mules departed. Notre Dame won the title in 2001.

"When this tournament started, you had Poplar Bluff, Cape Central, Jackson, Notre Dame and Perryville, who were all at one time or another prominent teams," tournament manager and Central athletic director Mark Ruark said. "Cape Central has dropped off, Perryville's dropped off and with Poplar Bluff out, it's been Jackson, Farmington and Massac County last year.

"When you're a little top-heavy, it is a little predictable. I don't think we've ever had a year the No. 1 team didn't make the championship game."

Poplar Bluff's girls team has come down to earth in recent years, but don't look for the Mules to come back to the Holiday Classic any time soon, even though Ruark would welcome them.

"Their coach just doesn't want to get back in it because he doesn't want to play Cape or Jackson here along with the Farmington Invitational and regular season," Ruark said. "He doesn't want to run the risk of playing them four times in a year.

"I really, really wish we could get them back in. They dominated the tournament when they were in there. They brought a good crowd. They're a good basketball team."

Farmington, runner-up in two of the past three years, will carry the top seed. Jackson is seeded second this year. Notre Dame is seeded third, followed by Central.

This year's field seems particularly top-heavy. Central, which has been seeded near the bottom in recent years, carries a 1-5 record as the No. 4 seed.

Sparta (Ill.), Perryville, Woodland and first-year program Saxony Lutheran round out the eight-team field. Saxony replaces Massac County (Ill.), which finished runner-up to Jackson last year.

"People love upsets in the tournament atmosphere, but I've always felt our championship game, if you look at the matchups, have come down to the wire," Ruark said.

Farmington and Jackson met in the championship game in back-to-back years in 2003 and 2004. Last year, the squads met in the district finals, with Jackson coming out on top. The Knightettes, who returned nearly their entire starting lineup, have dropped to Class 4 and out of Jackson's district.

"We're not favored this year, but we've won it three years in a row and I see no reason why we can't keep pushing," Jackson coach Sam Sides said. "We're looking forward to it."

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Past winners

1996 -- Jackson

1997 -- Poplar Bluff

1998 -- Poplar Bluff

1999 -- Poplar Bluff

2000 -- Poplar Bluff

2001 -- Notre Dame

2002 -- Poplar Bluff

2003 -- Jackson

2004 -- Jackson

2005 -- Jackson

Schedule

• Today's games: No. 1 Farmington vs. No. 8 Saxony Lutheran, 4 p.m.; No. 4 Central vs. No. 5 Sparta (Ill.), 5:30 p.m.; No. 2 Jackson vs. No. 7 Woodland, 7 p.m.; No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Perryville, 8:30 p.m.
• Thursday's games: Consolation semifinals, 4 p.m. and 5:30; championship semifinals, 7 p.m. and 8:30
• Friday's games: Seventh-place game, 4 p.m.; consolation finals, 5:30 p.m.; third-place, 7 p.m.; championship, 8:30 p.m.