The De Soto basketball team got off to a good start early in its Class 4 District 2 semifinal game against Park Hills Central on Tuesday at Potosi.
The top-seeded Dragons came out roaring, scoring the first 22 points of the game on their way to a dominating 67-32 victory that clinched a spot in the district championship game on Thursday night.
De Soto (23-4), the No. 6 team in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-schools rankings, will play No. 2 seed Farmington in the championship game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Potosi.
The Dragons got strong performances from the senior inside-out duo of Southeast Missouri State signees in guard Jared White and forward Colin Ferguson. White scored a game-high 20 points, while Ferguson added 17.
Sophomore guard Shawn Leonard also had a big game, hitting four 3-pointers and finishing with 14 points.
De Soto led 16-0 after one quarter and was ahead 22-0 in the second quarter before fourth-seeded Park Hills Central (14-13) scored its first points of the night.
Follow all of the playoff brackets here. In other district games:
HILLSBORO 56, WINDSOR 39 • The fourth-seeded Hawks used a dominating third quarter to pull away from the Owls to win their Class 4 District 3 first-round matchup at Lutheran South.
Hillsboro (16-9) got 14 points from Taylor Hassell, 13 from Spencer Sebaugh and 12 from Erik Maynard. The Hawks will play No. 1 seed Festus (17-8) in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Joe Siudzinski led Windsor (10-15) with 19 points.
LUTHERAN SOUTH 70, AFFTON 57 • The third-seeded Lancers led by just two points after one quarter in their Class 4 District 3 first-round game on Tuesday at home. Lutheran South got it going in the second and third quarters, outscoring No. 6 seed Affton 45-24 over those 16 minutes, to pull away for the victory.
Jim Hudson led Lutheran South with 17 points. Brandon Downey added 11.
The Lancers (12-14) will meet No. 2 seed Pacific (17-8) in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Reid Siebert led Affton (12-14) with 24 points and knocked down five 3-pointers. Sean Benedict had 13 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in the loss.
SUMNER 65, TRINITY 59 • The seeds held true as No. 4 seed Sumner earned a victory in its Class 4 District 5 first-round game against fifth-seeded Trinity.
Sumner (8-16) advances to take on No. 1 seed Soldan (19-5), the No. 1 team in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-schools rankings, in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Desoto Dickson led Trinity (11-14) with 16 points. Tyler Jones and Greg Rodgers Jr. added 11 points apiece for the Titans.
