Once again the race for the Semoball Cup was as close as it could get -- closer than last year when Notre Dame claimed its third Cup title.
The Bulldogs are once again among the top 10 finishers and one of seven area programs to claim a state championship this past school year.
The winner will be announced Saturday at the Fifth Annual Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH, which will be held at Southeast Missouri State's River Campus.
The top 10 programs, in alphabetical order, are Cape Girardeau Central, Caruthersville, Hayti, Jackson, Malden, Neelyville, Notre Dame, Oran, Saxony Lutheran and St. Vincent.
All 10 had at least one program reach the final four and six had multiple individual state champions.
The winner is determined by a point system that uses a school's overall winning percentage, plus bonus points for advancement in postseason play for both team and individual sports that are honored at the Semoball Awards.
Schools large and small are able to compete against each other for the Cup because the formula determining the points weighs a school's chance of advancement. At the heart of the formula is a school's overall winning percentage.
Last year saw Notre Dame post the highest point total at 182.66 while winning by the smallest margin at 4.79 points.
The margin between the top two programs this year was even closer -- 1.53 points -- with the winner finishing with a total of 154.51.
The finalists include six programs that were in the top 10 last year; Notre Dame is making its fifth straight appearance as a finalist.
The Bulldogs defended their state title in girls golf and had two teams -- softball and girls soccer -- also play for a state title. Individually, Notre Dame featured three state champions in golf and girls track among 13 to earn all-state honors.
Five teams from Notre Dame claimed a district title, second only to Jackson.
The Indians had two teams place fourth at state -- girls soccer and boys golf -- while four more win district titles and eight individuals earned all-state honors in their sport.
Cape Central led the area with 18 all-state honors and six individual state champions, all on the state championship boys swim team that defended its title.
Small schools Oran and Neelyville finished in the top 10 after championship seasons. The Eagles won a baseball title while the girls basketball team reached the quarterfinal, losing to Neelyville. The Lady Tigers claimed their first state championship in school history, lifting the program to its best-ever Cup finish.
Caruthersville also cracked the top 10 for the first time, as the girls track team placed third at state with two individual champions and the football Tigers reached the state quarterfinals.
St. Vincent is a finalist for a fourth straight year after winning a state title in girls soccer, placing fourth at state in boys cross county, sixth in girls cross country and 10th in boys track.
Saxony Lutheran featured a pair of individual state champions while the boys soccer team placed fourth at state.
Hayti returns to the top 10 as the boys basketball team played for a state title, losing by a point in overtime, and the boys track team finished sixth at state.
Malden, the 2016 Cup champion, featured a pair of individual state champions in track and field followed by the baseball team winning the state title.
Eagle Ridge Christian School claimed a pair of state championships but missed the top 10 by 3.16 points. Those titles were in the Missouri Christian School Athletic Association, not the Missouri State High School Activities Association, which all but two schools in the Semoball area compete. While the Eagles were given points for winning a title, they do not earn the same amount of points as a MSHSAA title winner because advancement through the playoffs is shorter.
Sikeston and Charleston each had a pair of basketball teams reach the final four but didn't finish in the top 20 because those were the only district champions and the overall program winning percentages was under .500.
Bernie had the fourth-best overall winning percentage at .735 but ended up 14th in the standings with only one district champion. Chaffee took fourth at state in fall softball and boasted a .709 overall winning percentage, fifth best, but ended up 12th in a strong field.
The complete standings will be released on semoball.com after the Semoball Awards show.
Tickets are on sale online at www.semoball.com/awards, where a full list of finalists can also be found.
The Semoball Awards are supported by title sponsors SEMO ESPN Radio, the St. Louis Cardinals and rustmedia, along with the bank sponsor The Bank of Missouri.