Updated Monday, March 17, at 11:15 a.m.

Nixa basketball is headed back to the Final Four with its 58-49 victory against Rockhurst, marking the program's 11th overall and the first since 2022.

Click here to recap the game and view video highlights and photos.

The Nixa Eagles will face the Oak Park Northmen in the semifinals on Wednesday, March 19 at noon in Columbia, Mo. The contest against the Northmen marks the first-ever between the two.

There will be a team send-off by the Nixa community, similar to its football one, on Tuesday, March 18, at 1 p.m. between Gregg Road and Highway 14 during the team's departure to Columbia, Mo.

The game is at Mizzou Arena on the campus of the University of Missouri (1 Champions Dr, Columbia, MO 65203). 
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Nixa returns to the Show-Me Showdown for the second time in five years and enters the semifinal matchup on a 13-game winning streak with a record of 28-2. The Eagles two defeats were to Bolivar buzzer-beater (59-56) and Park Hill (74-70) in overtime.

Oak Park, the District 8 champion, knocked off Blue Springs South in the quarterfinals 68-50 to secure its second straight trip to Columbia. The Northmen enter Wednesday's matchup on a 28-game win streak with a record of 29-1, finishing undefeated against Missouri teams. Their lone defeat came against North Crowley (TX) in the second game of the season at the Duncanville, Tx. Thanksgiving Hoopfest. 

The MBCA ranked Oak Park as the No. 1 team in its first poll (Dec. 16), and the Northmen never fell out of the spot. MaxPreps ranks Oak Park as the No. 22 team in its latest (March 11) polls. High Schools Sports Illustrated had Oak Park No. 25 on its most recent rankings (Jan. 29).

Nixa was No. 9 in the first rankings and worked its way up to No. 4.

Both teams faced three familiar opponents in the regular season: Park Hill, Parkview, and Rockhurst. The Northmen defeated each by double digits, including Park Hill three times (67-54, 70-59, 79-52), who Nixa fell too. Score comparisons: Nixa 73, Parkview 49, Oak Park 70, Parkview 59, Nixa 58, Rockhurst 49, and Oak Park 84, Rockhurst 54. 

The Eagles are no strangers to the Show-Me Showdown. They are making their 11th overall appearance and first under head coach Brock Blansit, who served as Jay Osborne's right-hand man for 17 years before taking the helm. The 1978 and 1999 state champions' previous two outings saw Nixa finish as the Class 6 runners-up to CBC (2022) and McCleur North (2012). 

The Northmen are making back-to-back appearances and the program's third overall. Oak Park, guided by former NBA Point Guard, Kansas University 2008 NCAA Champion, and 2010 All-American Sherron Collins, finished fourth a year ago and fell to Chaminade 65-55 in the semifinals and Springfield Central 72-62 in the third-place game. In its other trip, the Northmen were third in 1983.

Entering this year's contest, Oak Park has a 10-point advantage on offense, averaging 74.3 PPG to Nixa's 64.1 PPG. Nixa's defense is a strength and favors the Eagles, allowing 48.6 PPG while the Northmen hold opponents to 54.3 PPG.

The other semifinal matchup is Lafayette (17-13) and Chaminade (19-10) at 10 a.m. The winners of each meet on Thursday, March 20 at 4 p.m. and the losers at 10 a.m.

Admission to the game is $12 and must be purchased online here or at the link below and are available for purchase. 

Click here for the Class 6 state tournament bracket.

The championship game will be live-streamed courtesy of MSHSAA on MSHAA.tv here for $15. Nixa will have an audio-only cast and a live scoreboard that can be viewed for free on the Nixa Public Schools YouTube page (@nixapublicschools) here or at the link below.

Important State Quarterfinal Information Links:
Class 6 State Tournament Bracket
Admission ($12)
Live Broadcast ($15)
Live Audio-Only Cast
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Google Maps Directions