A season's worth of wins and tournament titles will pale in comparison to a district championship.

After the pain of preseason conditioning, and the grind of a 12 week season, it will all come to an end in the span of just 32 minutes for all but one girl's team and one boy's team at this week's Class 4, District 1 tournament at the Perry Park Center in Perryville.

The girl's bracket at the Class 4, District 1 tournament is loaded with quality teams, while Sikeston and Notre Dame will be favored to meet for a third time this season in the boy's championship game.

On the girl's side, Dexter as earned the top seed by defeating five of the six district teams during the regular season. While the Lady Bearcats, ranked No. 7 in Class 4, have put together an impressive 20-4 regular season, they can expect their opponents to play their best against them with a nothing to lose approach in each game.

Notre Dame, which has also been state ranked on and off during the regular season, will enter as the No. 2 seed. Dexter holds an overtime victory over the Lady Bulldogs, but that only helped to make Notre Dame eager for a rematch with added motivation.

The Lady 'Cats defeated Fredericktown on the road (Dec. 12), 70-56, and Perryville at home, 52-36, Feb. 8, while their four losses have been to Class 5 Farmington and Poplar Bluff twice and to Incarnate Word Academy, ranked No. 4 in Class 5.

Dexter has two players averaging in double figures. Katelyn Heil and Ashlee Taylor, both juniors, are averaging 19.6 and 16 points each, respectively. Heil also leads the team in assists (71), steals (61) and rebounds (155). Taylor is second in rebounds (129) and tied for second in steals (54).

Junior Jill Temples, who handles the ball and directs the offense, scores just under 10 points per game and his second on the team in assists (60) and tied for second in steals (54).

Junior Cathryn Heil and sophomore Abbie Warren are averaging 4.4 boards each, while scoring six and seven points per outing, respectively.

Seniors Sammy Waldner and Brooke Thrower are both seeing extensive playing time and contributing to the Lady 'Cats success.

Dexter is shooting 42 percent from the floor, 25 percent from 3-point range and 65 percent from the foul line for the season.

Fredericktown is seeded No. 3 and Perryville No. 4, but those two teams will have to get by No. 6 Sikeston and No. 5 Ste. Genevieve, respectively, to advance. If successful, Fredericktown will take on Notre Dame, while Perryville will match up against Dexter. Those semifinal games are scheduled for Thursday, with Dexter playing at 6 p. m. and Notre Dame at 7:30. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock.

Notre Dame is the defending champion in Class 4, District 1.

Class 4, District 1 Boys

On the boy's side, Sikeston earned the No. 1 seed by virtue of two wins over Notre Dame this season. Those two wins are a little misleading. Sikeston routed Notre Dame early in the year when they caught the Bulldogs without starters Austin Greer and Ryan Willen, then later won a 5-point game when they were still without dominated center Ryan Willen (6'8").

Sikeston (18-3) is currently ranked No. 3 in Class 4, while the Bulldogs (16-6) are currently ranked No. 9 in the most recent poll of Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters. Notre Dame is also the defending champion.

Both teams will receive first round byes, while No. 3 Fredericktown, No. 4 Ste. Genevieve, No. 5 Dexter and No. 6 Perryville battle to earn a shot at a possible upset.

Dexter has struggled through a tough 6-15 season for first-year coach Rob Nichols, but the Bearcats have never given up. They enter the tournament coming off arguable their best win of the year, a 71-43 SEMO Conference decision over the Cape Central Tigers in the regular-season finale. Loaded with seniors, the Bearcats have struggled to find offense. Only Kevin Hart, who scores nearly 20 points per game, has been able to produce on a consistent basis.

Consistency has been a problem all year for Dexter, according to coach Nichols, who said the team had yet to put four quarters together before the Cape Central win.

Dexter will open play Monday at 6 p. m. against 13-8 Ste. Genevieve. If Dexter can duplicate its performance against Cape Central, they'll have a good chance of getting past Ste. Genevieve. Who even wins that game can throw caution to the wind and go for broke against a highly touted Sikeston team in one semifinal pairing.