By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

With Christmas upon us, the minds of players and coaches from area high schools all shift to the 55th Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

Stoddard County will be well-represented in the tournament, with the Richland Rebels, Bloomfield Wildcats, Bernie Mules, Puxico Indians, and Dexter Bearcats all competing in the four-day basketball extravaganza.

The Bearcats were given the No. 5 seed in the tournament. The ‘Cats are currently 1-5, after opening the season with a Murderer’s Row of a schedule. The ‘Cats have dropped two games to the defending Class 4 State Champion Sikeston Bulldogs, as well as two two games against Jackson and one against Charleston. The Bearcats’ most recent 65-62 loss against the Scott City Rams could have just as easily been a win for the team.


The ‘Cats open the tournament against No. 12 South Pemiscot on Dec. 26 at 2:30 p.m.

The Bernie Mules, fresh off their second-straight Show-Me Showdown Final Four appearance, were given the No. 6 seed and sport a 6-1 record. The Mules’ lone loss of the 2011-2012 season came against Holcomb in the semifinals of the Bernie Invitational Tournament.


The Mules will open against No. 11 Van Buren at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.

The Bloomfield Wildcats earned the No. 7 seed with a 3-2 record. The host Wildcats two losses came against Holcomb and the Bernie Mules, and they open the tournament against No. 10 Saxony Lutheran at 5:00 p.m. Monday.

The Puxico Indians were given the No. 9 seed with a 3-2 record and will open the tournament against the No. 8 Hayti Indians on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in the final contest of the opening day.

The Richland Rebels, with a 1-5 record thus far in the 2011-2012 campaign, was given the No. 16 seed.

The Rebels will open the tournament on Dec. 26 at 9:00 a.m. when they face off against the No. 1 Kennett Indians, who look to three-peat after knocking off the Bearcats in last year’s title game.

ShowMe Times sports editor Andrew Cato will be at all 26 games, and you can follow live score updates via our Facebook or Twitter pages. There will also be a new menu area, under the Sports tab, where you can find recaps of all 26 games.


For your convenience, Tournament Brackets can be downloaded and printed out here.