Top 5 teams and players: Take II

Now that this year's game of the century is over, the pecking order for southeast Missouri's Top 5 basketball teams has become a bit easier to rank. And the Top 5 are...

1. Charleston (18-5) -- They took down mighty Jackson on Saturday and some weren't surprised at the 66-62 outcome. Me included. Playing at the Jays Nest is a tough task for all who enter and, after all, the Charleston Bluejays have the best player in the area, Delfincko Bogan, at their disposal. Although Bogan led in the point column, the Bluejays, ranked sixth in Class 3, got it done with key role players who usually don't shine on the offensive end. Mike Kellum and Robert Bogan helped put the game away in the fourth and give Jackson their only SEMO Conference loss so far. (You can read about the specifics here.) The Bluejays lead the SEMO Conference standings at 6-0 and control their regular season conference title fate with games against Cape Central and Poplar Bluff still remaining on their schedule. With the continued contributions of other's surrounding Bogan, Charleston has rattled off 12 wins in their last 13 games and can now focus on closing out the conference with an undefeated record and begin their run towards their fourth straight district championship.

2. Jackson (19-4) -- Though they dropped their fourth game of the year on Saturday, Jackson still holds the second spot in my Top 5. The Indians were disrupted by Charleston's quickness to the tune of 17 turnovers and, surprisingly, were outrebounded 26-24. That may be the first time ever in the history of basketball that's ever happened. I know it's not all about size, but it's always impressive watching Jackson -- who have their abundance of 6-6, 6-7 and 6-8 players -- take the court. Looks more like a junior college trotting out. Anyway, after talking with Josh Daume following the game, potentially losing the SEMO Conference regular season crown (it's not certain yet) was a big deal to the Indians. It's not really thought of because they're usually one of our top teams, but Jackson rarely has an opportunity to win the SEMO Conference outright. No matter the conference outcome, Jackson will still have a great opportunity to make a deep postseason run. The final stretch to the postseason will start with another tough task as the Indians travel to St. Louis to take on CBC, the second-ranked team in Class 5, on Tuesday. They'll finish the week and their SEMO Conference schedule with Kennett on Friday.

3. Sikeston (17-3) -- Ranked fourth in Class 4, the Bulldogs pulled off a big win in terms of their upcoming district tournament. Following their 67-52 victory over Cape Central on Friday, Sikeston pretty much sealed the district's No. 1 seed in, arguably, the toughest tournament in the state. Their top seed will help with the likes of Notre Dame, Kennett and Cape Central all vying to knock of the Bulldogs, who are winner's of the last five district championships. Sikeston had four players score in double figures against the Tigers with Dominique Dyes leading the way with 17 points. Earlier in the season, Sikeston had to rely a bit too much on J.T. Jones' offense while they transitioned a few younger players into the fold. Those "young" guys are now beginning to make their presence felt while opposing defenses focus on Jones. If that scoring trend continues, the Bulldogs will certainly be a tough out come district time. Sikeston will host NMCC in their final SEMO Conference game on Tuesday. At 5-2 in the conference, Sikeston isn't officially out of sharing a conference title with potentially Jackson or Charleston or both. Either a Charleston or Jackson win, however, will keep them out of it seeing as there's no tie-breaker in the SEMO Conference. (Seems like that should be changed, IMO...)

4. SCC (18-4) -- It seems like every season the Braves play county rival Oran three times. They meet at the Oran Invitational Tournament, usually play each other in the Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament and again in the regular season. They completed the season sweep of the Eagles on Friday during an 85-68 win, which I mentioned last week, is no easy feat. Oran is a formidable team that will make their own playoff push in Class 2, so Scott Central's latest wins against Oran and Portageville on Saturday keeps them at the four-spot. The Braves are ranked second in Class 1 and have won eight in a row. They will once again look to add to their district championship chest as they are the top seed in District 2. Leopold is the second seed and look to be their biggest district challenge with third-seeded Oak Ridge also looking to make noise. Though they won't put the cart before the horse, I began to look down the road. The biggest obstacle I see for the Braves in the future will be the defending Class 1 champions, Eminence, in the quarterfinal round. Although South Iron has made their case as a contender, the same could be said the last three seasons but they've failed to get out of districts. I'd like a chance to see South Iron, but I don't think they get past Eminence during sectionals. Other than the small post-season preview I just gave you, the Braves will travel to New Madrid County Central on Thursday for what should be a decent showdown.

5. Notre Dame (13-7) -- After Cape Central's latest loss and my reluctancy to rank them fifth last week, the Notre Dame Bulldogs move into the five-spot. Notre Dame is fresh off of a 76-51 victory over Poplar Bluff on Friday, a three-overtime win over Maplewood and dismantling an injury-plagued Bernie team. They've won six of their last seven and, like always, it seems like Notre Dame is picking up steam late in the season. Though they've become a bit of an afterthought, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Notre Dame in that district championship game. They still have Cape Central left on the schedule thanks to the plethora of postponed games earlier this month and will play the Tigers Feb. 24, at the Show Me Center. Though that game will have no bearing on the district seedings (the seed meeting should be wrapped up by then), it should give a good indication as to what to expect in early March. Notre Dame will be on the road this week with Farmington on Tuesday and DeSoto on Friday.

On the bubble teams:
Cape Central (10-10)
Kennett (13-7)
Caruthersville (17-2)
NMCC (10-8)
Poplar Bluff (9-12)
...in that order.

Top 5 players:
1. Delfincko Bogan, Charleston, jr. - Nothing's changed here. More than likely won't either.
2. J.T. Jones, Sikeston, sr. -- Flirted with another double-double against Cape Central. 14 points, 8 rebounds.
3. Kevonte Mitchell, Kennett, sr. -- He may have took offense to me placing him out of the Top 5. He's had four straight games of 30 points or more since.
4. Karson King, Jackson, sr. -- Did all he could to pull off the win against the Bluejays. Led Jackson with 23 points.
5. Willie Jimerson, NMCC, jr. -- Continues to be NMCC's biggest offensive threat despite seeing opposing teams best defenses.

On the bubble players:
Andre Statum, Cape Central, jr.
Jeffery Porter, Scott County Central, soph.
Quinn Poythress, Notre Dame, jr.
Lane Below, Advance, sr.
Darrell Monroe, Caruthersville, sr.
...in no particular order.