Today's Class 4 quarterfinal between the Blair Oaks Falcons and East Newton Patriots matches up a team that's made it to this round three straight years against a team in its first state quarterfinal game.
The fourth-ranked Patriots and sixth-ranked Falcons will tip off at 6 p.m. in Granby, with the winner advancing to next week's Class 4 Final Four in Springfield.
Blair Oaks (23-4) is coming off a 69-46 win against the Buffalo Bison on Tuesday in Wardsville, while East Newton (26-2) edged Ava 36-34 in sectionals to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
East Newton's losses this season came Dec. 19 in a 61-57 overtime defeat against Mount Vernon and Feb. 23 in a 50-42 result at Logan-Rogersville.
The Patriots score 61.2 points per game and allow 45 points per game, while the Falcons have averaged 71.4 points of offense and allow 51.5 points on average.
Buffalo was able to keep pace with Blair Oaks in the first half of Tuesday night's sectional contest in Wardsville, but the Bison were limited to six points in the third quarter.
"They started to beat us a lot down the floor and started to get a lot of transition points," Blair Oaks forward Luke Northweather said. "So instead of being up in press, we dropped back in half-court defense and I think that was definitely more effective."
Northweather tallied 31 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in the sectional win, while Quinn Kusgen scored 17.
Jake Closer, Dylan Hair and Zach Herigon each added seven points.
"When we got the ball moving side to side and entered the post on the reversal and got the seal, we were successful," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said.
East Newton 6-foot senior guard Lucas Kimbrough scored 13 points in the Patriots' win against Ava, with 6-5 senior Connor Killion adding eight points and 6-4 senior Tanner Youngblood scoring seven in the victory.
The Blair Oaks-East Newton winner will face the winner of top-ranked Vashon (13-1) and second-ranked New Madrid County Central (20-0) at 10 a.m. next Friday at JQH Arena.