MAAA Boys Semifinals Preview

(Park Hills) Tonight (Friday) it’s the boys’ semifinals of the M.A.A.A. conference tournament Mineral Area College in Park Hills. We’ll broadcast both games on J-98 The Boot and MyMoInfo.com. The first game will feature top-seeded Central and four-seed Ste. Genevieve. The 16-3 Rebels captured the regular-season conference title in the large-school division with a perfect 5-0 record. Central beat Fredericktown 76-41 Tuesday night getting 19 points and five assists from sophomore Jobe Bryant. While Jobe Bryant and the extremely athletic Caden Casey get a lot of attention for the Rebels, guys like Kendall Horton and Grant Mannion do the little things to spark some life for Central.

The 15-6 Dragons are coming off of a 63-51 victory over Potosi in the quarterfinals. Junior Aiden Boyer supplied 20 points and 15 rebounds while his team went 32-of-40 from the free-throw line.

The second semifinal is between rivals and second-seeded North County and third-seeded Farmington. The 11-9 Raiders have beaten the Knights twice already this season. Winning three times against the same team in one season isn’t easy, but North County coach Jimmy Palmer says his team is starting to get in a groove.

The 10-9 Knights picked up a much-needed win over six seed Valle Catholic Tuesday night. That 70-59 win halted a four-game losing streak. Farmington coach Garrett Callahan says it’ll take a lot to beat North County and advance to the conference championship.