By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Bearcats are set to open the 2012 Class 4, District Tournament tonight at the Sikeston Field House.

The Bearcats, who earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament, will face off against the No. 5 Fredericktown Black Cats. DHS head coach Rob Nichols noted the size advantage of the Black Cats as a key concern.

"Fredericktown is a much improved team over what they've been in the past three or four years," Nichols said. "They've got a big 6'8" kid that's a good player, they've got a guard that really penetrates well. We'll have to play well to beat them. They're a good team."

The Bearcats and Black Cats are set to tip things off at 6:00 p.m. tonight, and will be followed by the No. 3/No. 6 matchup between Perryville and Ste. Genevive at 7:30 p.m.

The Lady Bearcats earned a first-round bye with their No. 1 seed, and won't be in action until Thursday (Feb. 23) night at 6:00 p.m., when they take on the winner of Tuesday night's Perryville/Ste. Genevive matchup.

"I know our girls are going to be focused this week. We're going to take a couple days off, then get back in the gym on Sunday and Monday to prepare for districts," head coach Chad Allen said after last Thursday's season finale at Twin Rivers. "We'll definitely go take a look at the Ste. Gen.-Perryville game Tuesday night. Both teams are similar, and it should be a good game between them. Ste. Gen. beat Farmington earlier this year; we can't overlook anybody, and we're going to have to go in there and play hard."

The Lady 'Cats squeaked out the No. 1 seed over perennial power Notre Dame after splitting the season series. LBB opened the season with a 65-57 win over the Lady Bulldogs, but Notre Dame was able to pick up a 52-51 win over the Lady 'Cats on Feb. 7 at Notre Dame.

Click here to download the tournament bracket!