The seeding for the Stoddard County Activities Association boys basketball tournament predicts a rematch of last year's championship game.
Defending regular-season champion Dexter received the top seed, and defending tournament winner Advance is the No. 2 seed for the competition that starts Monday at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter.
However, Dexter coach Josh Dowdy and Advance coach Bubba Wheetley wouldn't write their teams' names in pen for the championship game just yet.
"As I stated at (the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament), the seeding does not matter once the ball is thrown up on Monday night," Dowdy said. "We will have to play real well all three nights to give ourselves a chance."
Both coaches believe any of the top five seeds are capable of winning the tournament. No. 3 Bernie, No. 4 Puxico and No. 5 Bloomfield round out the top five.
"Dexter's definitely the team to beat with their schedule and who they've beaten," Wheetley said. "Bernie's going to be tough and so are Bloomfield and Puxico. On any given night, anybody can beat anybody in this tournament. You never know with these kids."
Advance knows first-hand how tough Bernie is. The Hornets, the top-ranked team in the Class 1 coaches poll, needed a near half-court buzzer-beater by Armani Vermillion and overtime to beat Bernie 59-55 earlier this month.
"We all know what Bernie and Advance are capable of doing," Dowdy said, "but Puxico and Bloomfield have some strengths as well."
No. 6 Woodland, No. 7 Richland and No. 8 Bell City round out the tournament field.
Wheetley, whose team beat Dexter 54-51 in last year's title game, said that his team must improve in all aspects of the game to repeat as tournament champion.
"We're going through a spell where we're not shooting well," Wheetley said. "We're playing hard. We're putting in some extra time shooting, but there's a difference in shooting (in practice) and shooting in game situations. We've got to work hard on it, and we're not doing it the right way."
The Bearcats, who have won seven straight, have relied on solid defense en route to winning the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament and their first three conference games.
"We will have to make good decisions on offense and continue taking pride in getting stops on defense," Dowdy said.
On the junior varsity bracket, Dexter received the top seed and defending tournament champion Bernie is No. 2. Bernie beat Dexter 44-41 in overtime last year.
The remaining tournament seeds are No. 3 Bloomfield, No. 4 Richland, No. 5 Puxico and No. 6 Woodland. Advance and Bell City are not entering teams this year.