Familiar four left in semis

~ Charleston, Bell City, Notre Dame and Jackson have been here before -- last year, in fact.

Another year of blowouts, paired with some minor upsets, has left the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament with a familiar feel heading into today's semifinal round at the Show Me Center.

The same four teams that appeared in last year's semifinals make up this year's final four. Bell City, the fifth seed, gets the unenviable task of facing No. 1 Charleston this time around at 6 p.m. tonight.

The Cubs routed No. 4 Scott County Central in the quarterfinals Wednesday, the only upset in the quarterfinals.

"Charleston's a great team," Bell City coach Brian Brandtner said. "They've won more championships than anybody in the history of this tournament. They're having a great year, and they've been playing really well so far in the tournament.

"We're getting better and we need to continue to get better. We're excited to be in the semifinals."

Defending champion Notre Dame, the No. 2 seed, will face No. 3 Jackson in the other semifinal at 7:30.

Last year as the No. 5 seed, the Bulldogs upset top-seeded Charleston in the semifinals and went on to beat Jackson in the championship game.

"I'd like to get to the finals again, but if we don't, it's not the end of the world," Notre Dame coach Paul Hale said. "We'll try to do our best."

Jackson had perhaps the stiffest test in the quarterfinals, despite winning by 25 points. None of the four quarterfinals was decided by less than 20 points.

The Indians trailed No. 6 Advance much of the first half and had to use a 12-0 run in the third quarter to secure the win. Jackson had early trouble with Advance's dribble penetration, something the Indians will see plenty of against the Bulldogs.

"The good thing is Notre Dame is very good at dribble penetration, so this game [against Advance] was a good test on what we have to do if we want to compete against them," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "Notre Dame has to be one of the best teams in the state at dribble penetration. If we don't handle penetration better against them, they may score 150 points."

This will be the second meeting between Notre Dame and Jackson this season. Notre Dame beat Jackson in the third-place game of the SEMO Conference tournament earlier this month.

"It's going to come down to who plays better," Scott said. "I know that sounds simple, but Notre Dame forces you to play for four quarters. So we'll have to play our best game of the year if we want to win."

Notre Dame has not been tested so far this tournament, having won its two games by a combined 89 points. Hale knows the competition will heat up tonight.

"Jackson's a good ballclub, and no matter who we play, it's going to be a good ballclub when you're in the winner's bracket," Hale said.

Charleston has plenty to prove as it enters tonight's semifinal. The Bluejays, ranked No. 1 in Class 3 in the latest state poll, have not made the finals the past three years. The last title for the Bluejays, who own a tournament-high 15 championships, came in 2002 over Notre Dame.

"We're extra focused. We come here and we have a letdown every year, but we didn't want that to happen this year," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said.

Bell City has never appeared in the tournament finals. The Cubs were routed by Jackson in last year's semifinals, and fell to Charleston 85-67 in the third-place game.

Junior guard Nick Niemczyk led the Cubs in their upset win over Scott County with 31 points. Will Bogan, Bell City's 6-foot-10 senior, added 24 points in the win.

"Bogan is tough," Farmer said. "He's hard to stop. The way I feel, he'll get his, but we're going to try and shut everybody else down. Niemczyk is also a good player.

"They're a good team. We know we're going to have to come ready to play."

In the fifth-place bracket, No. 4 Scott County Central will face No. 9 Oran at 3 p.m. The Braves edged district-foe Oran in the season-opener for both teams at the Oran Invitational.

Advance will get another crack at No. 7 Scott City in the other fifth-place semifinal at 4:30. The Rams routed the Hornets 85-59 in a meeting two weeks ago. Jay Simmons hit seven 3-pointers in that game and Alex King paced the Rams with 27 points.

Opening the third day of play at noon is a consolation semifinal between No. 8 Central and No. 13 Chaffee. Kelly, the 10th seed, will face No. 14 Woodland at 1:30 in the other consolation semifinal.