First Round Action Begins Saturday At C4D2 Tourney

(BONNE TERRE, Mo.) – The Class 4 District 2 boys and girls basketball opening round at North County High School begins Saturday at noon on Regional Radio with four separate match-ups. Game 1 will be a boys affair featuring the fourth-seeded Ste. Genevieve Dragons at 14-14 and fifth-seeded DeSoto Dragons at 11-15. Without a full squad on Jan. 15, DeSoto fell to Ste. Genevieve 69-38. Coach Zeb Hammond said that this time around, DeSoto is healthy and that means his guys should be able to compete better.

For Ste Genevieve coach Rob Coleman, one of the factors in beating DeSoto is keeping an eye on Clayton Snudden.

In the other boys match-up, the third-seeded Potosi Trojans will face off for a third time against the sixth-seeded North County Raiders. Potosi, currently at 12-12, took the first two meetings with North County, one at home and the other in the MAAA Tournament. However, Trojans coach Brett Hale said beating a team for a third time in one season is a tall task.

North County worked to a 14-11 record in the regular season and earned two straight road wins against Festus and Seckman leading up to districts. Raiders coach Jimmy Palmer said offensive production will be key at this time of the year.

After the boys games finish, the girls will take the court as fourth-seeded Potosi faces fifth-seeded Farmington. The Trojans finished the regular season at 10-15, picking up a 59-45 win over Farmington in the process. The win was one of many in a much improved second half of the season according to coach Matt Bradley.

Farmington enters the district tournament at 9-15 having lost six straight. Coach Rusty Sancegraw said he believes that the key to turning things around is to not continue making silly mistakes.

In the remaining girls first round game, the North County Raiders will take on the DeSoto Dragons in the #3 vs. #6 match-up. North County took home a 47-28 victory at DeSoto in early January and comes in at 17-7 overall. Raiders coach Zac McVey said with both teams featuring talented post players, his guards will need to step up.

DeSoto has had an up-and-down regular season that finished at 14-10. Dragons coach Sam Rauls said he wants to see his younger players make big contributions.

The winners of the four games will advance to the semifinals on Monday and Tuesday. Here is the full schedule:

BOYS FIRST ROUND: #5 DeSoto vs. #4 Ste. Genevieve – 12 p.m. (KREI/KJFF)
BOYS FIRST ROUND: #6 North County vs. #3 Potosi – 1:30 p.m. (KREI)
GIRLS FIRST ROUND: #5 Farmington vs. #4 Potosi – 3 p.m. (J-98)
GIRLS FIRST ROUND: #6 DeSoto vs. #3 North County – 4:30 p.m. (J-98)

Pregame coverage begins Saturday morning at 11:45 a.m. on AM-800 KREI and AM-1400 KJFF.