Springfield girls basketball Class 5 districts preview: Schedule, top players, predictions

Wyatt D. Wheeler, Springfield News-Leader

The larger classes will begin high school basketball postseason play across southwest Missouri this week.

Classes 4-6 will tip off district play on Monday all across the area. We went through and provided the brackets, top teams, players to watch and predictions for each local district.

Check MSHSAA.org for the most accurate times and brackets throughout the postseason.

SPRINGFIELD AREA GIRLS BASKETBALL DISTRICT PREVIEWS: Class 4 | Class 5 | Class 6

SPRINGFIELD AREA BOYS BASKETBALL DISTRICT PREVIEWS: Class 4 | Class 5 | Class 6

Class 5

No. 1 team: John Burroughs

The Bombers have been the best team in Class 5 all year and their only three losses have come to perennial state power Incarnate Word which is considered one of the best high school basketball teams in the country. Allie Turner has been among the state's best as a senior who averages 13 points per game and is committed to Gonzaga. Sophomore Moriyah Douglass is also commanding quite a bit of Division I interest. The Bombers have a great shot at securing their second state title in the last three years.

District 6 at Marshfield

Feb. 28

  • No. 1 Marshfield vs. No. 8 Parkview

  • No. 4 McDonald County vs. No. 5 Carl Junction

  • No. 2 West Plains vs. No. 7 Webb City

  • No. 3 Branson vs. No. 6 Hillcrest

March 1

  • 1/8 vs. 4/5

  • 2/7 vs. 3/6

March 4

  • Championship at 6 p.m.

Team to beat: West Plains. The Lady Zizzers take the top spot in here despite being the two-seed because someone needs to knock them off before anyone else can be considered the team to beat. This program has won its last four district titles with the previous three seasons ending in a state semifinal appearance, which includes a 2022 state championship. Allyssa Joyner and Olivia Lawson have played at this championship level before and it's going to take someone's best game to end their run.

Next best: Marshfield. The Lady Jays have been the best and most consistent team in this loaded district all year. They're determined to make the jump and have a recent 50-42 win at West Plains to show they're more than capable of being the team to end West Plains' reign. Lauren Luebbert is a senior star who deserves to go out with a district title to end her great career, as does Abby McBride. Others are going to have to step up to get it done as Marshfield seeks its first district championship since 2014.

Prediction: Marshfield over West Plains.

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield high school girls basketball Class 5 districts preview

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