The Warrenton and Wright City boys basketball teams could meet on the court for the only time this season Thursday in the Hermann Tournament.

No. 8 seed Wright City will play top-seeded Montgomery County Tuesday evening, followed by No. 4 Warrenton’s meeting with No. 5 St. James.

Warrenton (4-8) and St. James (6-5) received the same amount of votes in the seeding process, and Warrenton Head Coach Mike Uffmann believes his first-round game is a microcosm for the rest of the tournament.

“I believe it’s going to be a tournament that could be won by any of the top five teams,” he said. “St. James won last year as a six seed, so it’s definitely possible.”

The Warriors are looking to play in the winner’s bracket for the first time this season. 

The club dropped first-round games in the Winfield Tournament Dec. 1 and Warrenton Winter Classic Jan. 5.

For that to happen, Warrenton will have to slow down senior forward Trae Tucker and junior guard Trey Marshall, who combine to score 24.6 points a game.

Like the Warriors, the Tigers get plenty of contributions from sophomores.

“They’re pretty similar to us,” Uffmann said. “They’ll play three good quarters and have one bad quarter, and that has cost them some games.”

The Tigers have won five straight games and have won back-to-back Hermann Tournament championships.

Uffmann hopes getting away from home will help his players focus on the task at hand Tuesday night.

“Our first tournament was our first game of the year, and our second tournament was our first home game of the year, so it will be nice to get away and just focus on basketball,” he said. “Both first round games have been close, but we need to learn to finish those games. This is definitely a winnable tournament.”

Depending on how the first round plays out, Warrenton could meet Warren County rival Wright City in the second round.

Warrenton dropped the Wildcats from the schedule after the Gateway Athletic Conference expanded its slate of conference games.

Wright City (2-10) squares off with No. 1 Montgomery County (10-3), an Eastern Missouri Conference foe that will play at Wright City Thursday night, as well.

“We’re definitely familiar with Montgomery,” Wright City Head Coach Ken Brown said. “They’re a very deep and well-coached team.”

Montgomery County is led by junior forward Chase Parrish, a three-year varsity player who averages 22.4 points and 9.6 rebounds.

“He’ll grab the defensive rebound and take it all the way down for a layup if you don’t stop him,” Brown said. “We need to make sure we have a guy on him at all times and limit his touches.”

A challenging defensive assignment was made tougher with the injury to junior forward Dakota Phillips, who dislocated his finger against Winfield Jan. 7 and won’t be back until the second round of the tournament at the earliest.

Wright City has switched to a four-guard lineup in Phillips’, absence, and freshman guard Hunter Meyer has started the last two games.

Brown isn’t sure what his lineup will be in the tournament.

“The new lineup has helped us score easier, but it has hurt us defensively,” Brown said. “We’re looking forward to getting Dakota back, but we’ll look for guys to step up until he gets back.”

If Wright City and Warrenton lose their first round games, the teams will meet Thursday at 6 p.m. at Hermann Middle School.

If both teams win, the meeting will take place at the same time at the high school.

Brown isn’t looking ahead, however.

“The kids would be motivated to play that game,” he said. “I wouldn’t need to get them ready, but the key is to make sure they’re ready to play that first game.”

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Hermann Tournament Schedule

Tuesday, Jan. 26

Game 1: No. 1 seed Montgomery County vs. No. 8 Wright City, 6 p.m., Hermann High School

Game 2: No. 2 Owensville vs. No. 7 New Haven, 6 p.m., Hermann Middle School

Game 3: No. 4 Warrenton vs. No. 5 St. James, 7:30 p.m., high school

Game 4: No. 3 Hermann vs. No. 6 Chamois, 7:30 p.m. middle school

Thursday, Jan. 28

Game 5: Montgomery County/Wright City winner vs. Warrenton/St. James winner, 6 p.m., high school

Game 6: Montgomery County/Wright City loser vs. Warrenton/St. James loser, 6 p.m., middle school

Game 7: Owensville/New Haven winner vs. Hermann/Chamois winner, 7:30 p.m., high school

Game 8: Owensville/New Haven loser vs. Hermann/Chamois loser, 7:30 p.m., middle school

Saturday, Jan. 30

Seventh-place game: 2:30 p.m.

Consolation championship: 4 p.m.

Third-place game: 5:30 p.m.              

Championship: 7 p.m.

TURNING THE CORNER — Ty Curtis heads to the hoop during a loss to Owensville Jan. 11. The Wildcats face Montgomery County Tuesday in the first round of the Hermann Tournament.