E. CARTER, CHARLESTON BOYS, JACKSON GIRLS TOP FINAL POLL

East Carter County, Charleston and Jackson own the top spots in the final Southeast Missouri basketball polls of the 1996-97 season.

East Carter, which finished second in the Class 2A state tournament, is No. 1 in the small school boys rankings. The Redbirds wound up with a 29-3 record.

Scott City is ranked second, with Hayti, Richland and Delta rounding out the top five.

Charleston, which lost to Perryville in the Class 3A sectionals, is No. 1 in the large school boys rankings. The Blue Jays, ranked first in the state for most of the season, finished with a 25-4 mark.

Cape Central, New Madrid County Central, Doniphan and Jackson complete the top five.

Jackson, the Class 4A runnerup, finished No. 1 in the overall girls poll. The Lady Indians had a final record of 27-3.

Notre Dame, the Class 2A runnerup, jumped all the way to second in the final poll after not even being ranked in the last regular-season poll.

Cape Central, Poplar Bluff and Kennett round out the top five.

The polls are based on voting by a region panel of sportswriters and sportscasters.

A complete listing of all three polls appears in the `Scoreboard' section.

SEMO Basketball Rankings

The top-rated teams in the final Southeast Missouri basketball poll of the 1996-97 season as conducted by a region panel of sportswriters and sportscasters (first-place votes are in parentheses):

Boys

Small Schools

Record Points

1. East Carter Co. (18) 29-3 188

2. Scott City (1) 25-4 156

3. Hayti 20-5 149

4. Richland 22-5 142

5. Delta 18-11 77

6. Scott Co. Central 18-7 67

7. Bernie 18-9 65

8. Portageville 15-9 44

9. Bloomfield 16-11 43

10. Malden 14-13 37

Also receiving votes: Gideon (20-7), Clarkton 13-14), No. Pemiscot (17-10), Twin Rivers (15-12), Notre Dame (9-17), Woodland (15-10), Advance (16-10), Senath (15-10), Kelly (13-12).

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Large Schools

Record Points

1. Charleston (17) 25-4 93

2. Cape Central (1) 21-7 72

3. New Madrid 14-12 47

4. Doniphan 22-4 42

5. Jackson 17-9 32

Also receiving votes: Sikeston (18-6)

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Girls

Overall

Record Points

1. Jackson (10) 27-3 99

2. Notre Dame (1) 22-10 89

3. Cape Central 19-7 82

4. Poplar Bluff 21-4 78

5. Kennett 19-2 49

6. New Madrid 18-6 40

7. East Carter Co. 21-5 32

8. Doniphan 14-9 29

9. Scott City 21-6 25

10. Bunker 22-4 24

Also receiving votes: Scott Co. Central, Greenville, Neelyville, Kelly, Dexter, Sikeston, Charleston, Delta, Ellington, Perryville.