Tennis players from Branson take part in State Tournament competition while other athletes prepare for events this weekend.
The Pirate Tennis Doubles Team of Ben Merrifield and Nate Bartram took part in the Class 2 State Tournament in Springfield. According to Branson Tennis Twitter, the duo took part in three matches and just fell short of getting into the medal round.
Meanwhile, many area athletes are preparing for more postseason events:
Track
The Class 1 and 2 Missouri State Meet is taking place today and Saturday in Jefferson City. Athletes from Blue Eye, Crane, Galena, School of the Ozarks and Spokane are among those participating.
Meanwhile, athletes from Hollister and Reeds Spring will take part in the Class 3 and 4 Sectional in Wests Plains while Branson is at the Class 5 Sectional at Springfield Parkview.
Baseball
Weather permitting, the Class 5 District Final is set for 6:00 this evening at Pirate Park as Willard will play Glendale. Willard defeated Branson in extra innings while Glendale got past Camdenton in Wednesday's Semi-finals. Officials report that if tonight's game gets rainout, it will be made up on Monday evening.
In other baseball news, Forsyth's opponent in next week's Class 3 Sectional Game has been determined. Licking defeated Houston 6-4 in their District Title Game Thursday and will host the Panthers in the Sectional next Tuesday.
Soccer
Fans of the Harrison and Green Forest Soccer programs can help support the other as the schools will play back-to-back games in their state finals this week in Conway.
The Harrison Girls Soccer team will play the first part of the doubleheader with the Lady Goblins playing Pulaski Academy at 12:00 Saturday afternoon for the 5A Championship. The Green Forest Boys will follow around 2:00 as the Tigers will play in the 3A Title Match against Haas Hall Academy.
The matches are a part of Championship Weekend for Baseball, Soccer, and Softball Title Games taking place on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas.