Central Christmas Tournament Boys Semifinals Get Underway Tonight on J98

(Park Hills) The dust has settled after the first two rounds of the Central Christmas Tournament and the semifinals are set with #1 South Iron taking on #5 Farmington and #2 North County squaring off with #3 Central tonight on J98.

The first game will be between two relatively uncommon foes in South Iron and Farmington.

The Knights have bested the Panthers in four out of their last five meetings, including their most recent matchup in the 2018 championship of the Central Christmas Tournament by a final score of 66-62.

Even after coming off a nice win against Festus in the quarterfinals, South Iron head coach Dusty Dinkins says they will have to play even better to topple a good Farmington team.

Knights’ head coach Terry Noble breaks down the keys for his team against the #1 team in the tournament, and the state’s #1 team in Class 1.

Tip-off of (7-2) South Iron and (7-1) Farmington is scheduled for 6.

The second semifinal pits two extremely familiar conference foes and crosstown rivals against one another when #2 North County takes on #3 Central.

The Rebels are 14-2 against the Raiders dating back to 2013 including four straight wins over the past two seasons.

North County head coach Jimmy Palmer says after great effort in a grind-it-out win over DeSoto in the quarterfinals, they will need that same intensity against a young and hungry Rebels bunch.