CHARLESTON THE HEAVY FAVORITE, BUT....

Sure, on paper Charleston looks like the heavy favorite to win its 12th championship when the 53rd annual University High School Christmas Tournament begins Friday at the Show Me Center.

But the same was said last year, when the Blue Jays entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed -- only to be upset by Cape Girardeau Central in the semifinals.

And that kind of thing should at least give many of the other 15 teams in the annual hoops extravaganza some hope, although some of them seem to think that knocking off Charleston this year will be tougher than ever.

"I think you have Charleston clearly at the top, but then you've got a whole bunch of teams that look pretty even, which is the way you like to see it," said Delta coach Nate Crowden, whose squad is the fifth seed.

Said Notre Dame coach Chris Janet, whose squad is seeded seventh and has already been blasted by the Blue Jays, "Charleston certainly looks like a big favorite. But that's the great thing about this tournament. You never know what's going to happen."

Charleston coach Danny Farmer, while acknowledging that his team should be the favorite, cautions that you still have to play the games on the court, not on paper.

"Everybody will be looking to knock us off, and that sometimes makes things even harder," he said. "People are saying that we should win the tournament easily, but I know things don't work that way. We still have to go out and play well or we'll get beat."

Charleston, which has won four of the past six championships -- Cape Central owns the other two -- garnered all 16 first-place votes to earn the unanimous No. 1 seed.

After that, things got pretty interesting, particularly in the case of Kelly, which was undefeated at press time (prior to last Friday's game against Oak Ridge) and off to its best start in a number of years.

The Hawks, who have not reached the finals since 1981, are favored to do just that -- they're seeded second.

"I think it's an honor to be seeded that high, but there are going to be a lot of tough games before we can even start thinking about getting to the finals," said Kelly coach Kent Mangels. "But our guys are excited about it."

Last season, Cape Central slipped past upstart Scott City 62-56 in a thrilling championship game.

Also last year, Charleston bounced back from its semifinal loss to Cape Central by beating Delta 54-30 in the third-place game; Jackson downed Notre Dame 55-47 for fifth place; and Scott County Central won the consolation title with an 87-83 overtime victory over Woodland.

Seeded right behind Charleston and Kelly this year are No. 3 Jackson and No. 4 Scott City, which joined Kelly as the tournament's only undefeated teams at press time (prior to last Friday's game against Advance).

Seeded in the next four slots are Delta, Cape Central, Notre Dame and Oran.

Heading up the bottom eight seeds is No. 9 Woodland, followed by Scott County Central, Bell City, Advance, Oak Ridge, Meadow Heights, Chaffee and Leopold.

First-round games Friday begin at 9 a.m. when Charleston plays Leopold. The rest of the early session features Kelly vs. Chaffee at 10:30 a.m., Jackson vs. Meadow Heights at noon and Scott City vs. Oak Ridge at 1:30 p.m.

The late session of the opening round begins at 4:30 p.m. when Delta plays Advance. After that, it's Cape Central vs. Bell City at 6, Notre Dame vs. Scott County Central at 7:30 and Oran vs. Woodland at 9.

Quarterfinals begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, with eight games on the schedule. If the seeds hold true to form, then some intriguing quarterfinal matchups would feature Cape Central vs. Jackson, Notre Dame vs. Kelly and Scott City vs. Delta.

After a break from play Sunday, the tournament will resume Monday with the semifinal round featuring six games. Action starts at 1 p.m. and includes the championship semifinals at 7 and 8:30.

The tournament will conclude Tuesday with the four trophy games, starting with the consolation final at 4 p.m. The fifth-place game will be at 5:30, with the third-place contest at 7 and the championship battle at 8:30.