Welcome to the last week of the regular season for Missouri High School basketball.
Here is a preview of what to expect from the Dunklin County teams as they prepare for their district tournament assignments.
Class 2 District 1
The Campbell boys basketball team has played themselves to an 18-5 record. The last time the Camels won this many games was in the 2020-2021 season when they went 25-4 and won the State Championship. However, after falling to Caruthersville in the Bootheel Conference Championship game, they have entered a three-game losing streak.
They will look to put over 20 games in their win column this week with three more games left of the regular season. The Camels face a 1-16 North Pemiscot team on Monday, Feb. 17 before hosting the Delta C-7 Chargers for their last home game of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 18. Finally, on Feb. 20, they will travel to challenge Gideon before starting their postseason at the Class 2 District 1 tournament.
The bracket for this tournament has not been released yet. The Camels, with the most wins out of the other competitors in their district, are assumed to receive the No. 1 seed which will either result in a bye or a game against a lower seed. The two teams they could match up against would be Malden, 1-20, or Holcomb with a 2-19 record.
The Camels will pursue their first State appearance in four years with the challenge of making it past Hayti. The Hayti Indians have the second-best record in their district, sitting four games behind Campbell. Hayti has a 1-0 record against the Camels, beating them 88-71 on Jan. 6.
Senath-Hornersville, another Class 2 District 1 competitor, only has two games this week to close out their regular season. Both will be home games as they face an 11-11 Gideon squad on Tuesday, Feb. 18 before hosting the Risco Tigers on Friday.
The Lions had a strong start through January, matching their total wins from the 2023 season. However, since their win over Portageville on Jan. 21, they have entered a five-game losing slump. This included getting knocked in the first round of the Bootheel Conference tournament by South Pemiscot. They will try and better their 12-win record from last season in this final week. Their current record puts them in the middle of their district assignment. They are one game behind South Pemsicot in fourth place. If Senath-Hornersville isn’t forced to play a higher seed, they will likely get matched with Neelyville who has a 10-13 record. Lucky for the Lions, they have home-court advantage as they will be hosting the Class 2 District 1 tournament. They will have to overcome South Pemiscot as well as Hayti and Campbell for an appearance at the State tournament.
Class 1 District 1
The Class 1 District 1 tournament will feature the 6-17 Clarkton Reindeer, looking to four-peat and make their fourth consecutive state tournament appearance. However, they face a few heavy hurdles along the way.
As the No. 5 seed, the Reindeer's first matchup will be against the No. 4 seeded Cooter. Upon completing an upset, they will still run into the No. 1 seeded Risco who was given a first-round BYE. Risco was ranked third in Missouri for Class 1 and they are currently on a revenge tour.
After an upset in the District finals last season, they are doing everything they can to make sure they don’t have a repeat heartbreaker this year. The Tigers have only lost two games this year, completing a 22-2 record. They are coming off a Championship performance at the Tri-County Conference Tournament which featured all of the same teams they are destined to face in the Class 1 District 1 tournament. Still, the Reindeer have to clear the first round before addressing the Tigers.
Southland is another contender in this District assignment. As the No. 3 seed, the Rebels are matched up against a No. 6 seeded Delta C-7 team. After splitting their season record against each other at 1-1, the Chargers have been plagued with injuries to key players in the later portion of the season, including their two seniors Davon Stewart and Anthony Johnson. The Rebels still have the challenge of slowing down the Charger’s Carlos (C.J.) Wallace. If the Rebels make it past the Chargers, they will have the chance of running into No. 2 seeded Gideon, assuming the Bulldogs make it past North Pemiscot in the first round. The Rebels upset Gideon in the Tri-County tournament to make it to the Conference finals. However, their season record against the Bulldogs is also 1-1, and this time Gideon will be hosting the tournament instead of Southland.
Kennett High School
Kennett is the only Class 4 team in Dunklin County. They still have a few weeks before their District competitions start in March. This week they will travel to fave Kelly, Portageville and Saxony Lutheran before their final home game against Cape Central on Tuesday, Feb. 25. They sit at the bottom of their District assignment with 12 losses this season, but have recently turned things around going on a four-game win streak. Their 9-12 record puts them one game behind Perryville. Their District tournament is slated to be played at Fredericktown High School from March 3 through March 7. The Indians look to win their first District title since 2010.
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