THE LATEST LINE: PARITY THE KEY WORD FOR UNIVERSITY HIGH TOURNAMENT

Parity is a word that seems to be thrown about almost too easily in sports circles these days.

People talk about parity in the NFL, about parity in college football, about parity in college basketball.

Well, now let's talk about parity in area high school basketball, specifically the 56th annual University High Christmas Tournament that will be held Dec. 27-30 at the Show Me Center.

The pairings for the area's annual showcase regular-season event were released last Sunday and the prevailing theme among the coaches who voted on the seedings was parity.

When a team with a 1-5 record receives the No. 1 seed and when the other high seeds don't appear to be all that intimidating, some people might call it mediocrity, not parity. And they'd have a good point.

But no matter what you call it, the four-day, 16-team tournament just might very well be as competitive and unpredictable as it's been in years.

Perennial powerhouse Charleston, the squad with the 1-5 mark, enters as the pre-tourney favorite -- and you really can't argue with the selection.

Even though this doesn't appear to be one of the Bluejays' vintage squads, their five losses so far have basically come against powerhouse teams. They should definitely make a run at their record 14th U-High title -- but it's hard to consider them an overwhelming favorite.

Ditto for the other top-four seeds: No. 2 Jackson, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Scott City, the defending champion. All appear to be decent but not overwhelming.

In fact, you could make a case that some of the next six seeds -- last year's runner-up Advance is No. 5, followed by Cape Central, Scott County Central, Woodland, Oran and Bell City -- have as decent a shot at making some noise as the so-called favorites. After all, No. 9 Oran led No. 4 Scott City for all but 13 seconds before losing by two points recently.

The bottom line is that the favored teams appear to be considerably weaker than past favorites.

But on the other hand, there doesn't appear to be nearly as many extremely bad squads as usual, which should definitely increase the possibility of more upsets not only in the early rounds but throughout the tournament.

Did anybody mention parity?

* Another upcoming major area basketball tournament also looks like it's filled with parity --but for a different reason.

The fifth annual HealthSouth Holiday Classic, to be played Tuesday through Friday at the Show Me Center, features elite squads from three states.

No. 1 seed and three-time defending champion Poplar Bluff is the defending 4A runner-up. No. 2 Notre Dame is considered one of the state's top 2A teams. No. 3 Jackson and No. 4 Cape Central are regarded as potential 4A Final Four threats, along with Poplar Bluff.

And the bottom half is nearly as strong, with No. 5 Farmington, No. 6 Massac County (Ill.), No. 7 Hopkinsville (Ky.) and No. 8 Perryville all solid.

The eight tourney teams have a combined 40-5 record, which is remarkable.

* A couple of more quick area hoop notes:

Dexter senior and SEMO signee Brett Hale scored 44 points recently against Twin Rivers.

Nice win for Advance over Scott City Friday night. The Hornets are trying to prove that they were not simply the Garrett Broshuis show last year, and so far they're doing a good job of it.

Caruthersville continues to open some eyes as one of the region's premier teams this season.