The Class 6 District 5 boys basketball tournament bracket and seeds have been released.

The district features Carthage, Central (Springfield), Joplin, Kickapoo, Neosho, Nixa, Ozark, and Republic.

Ozark is the tournament host, and all games will be played at Ozark High School.

The defending district champion and undefeated Nixa (26-0) attempts its 21st district title and received the top seed in the district and is slated to face cross-town rival and host Ozark (12-14) in the opening round on March 1 at 4 p.m.

In the regular season matchup, Nixa coasted by Ozark 74-60, and currently holds a four-game winning streak over the Tigers, dating back to 2021. Ozark ended the regular season winning eight of its final 10 games.

Other first-round matchups entail, No. 4 Joplin (16-9) vs. No. 5 Central (Springfield) (15-9) at 5:30 p.m., No. 2 Kickapoo (18-8) vs. No. 7 Carthage (14-11) at 7 p.m., and No. 3 Republic (23-3) vs. No. 6 Neosho (19-7) at 8:30 p.m.

Nixa also cruised to double-digit victories during the regular season over Central (Springfield) (70-59) in its second meeting, Joplin (80-54), and Neosho (71-35), while defeating Kickapoo (65-62), Republic (62-58), and Carthage (66-64) by slim margins.

Coming into the tournament, Nixa rides a 26-game winning streak, 

Ozark, Joplin, Kickapoo, and Republic all finished the regular season winning eight of its last 10 games. Republic is on a three-game winning streak.

To view and download the district bracket, click here.

Admission throughout the tournament is $6 and can be purchased at the front entrance.

All Nixa games will be live video broadcasted, per MSHSAA's requirements for a PPV fee of $10, on MSHSAA.tv here.

There will also be a free audio-only cast on Nixa's YouTube channel here.