Watching Benton’s boys stave off Chillicothe last Friday simply confirmed the reality. This Midland Empire Conference race is mind-boggling.

The standings already looked muddled late last week. Losses by Cameron and Smithville further opened the door for those lurking in the middle of the pack, however, and now every team in the league now has at least one blemish on its conference record.

Here’s an updated look at your standings on the boys side after Monday night:

Lafayette 3-1 17-5

Cameron 3-1 15-4

Smithville 3-1 11-10

Bishop LeBlond 2-2 11-7

Maryville 2-2 12-5

Benton 1-3 9-12

Savannah 1-3 8-11

Chillicothe 1-3 7-12

Pretty murky, if you ask me. Even with a handful of games left, it's hard to break the league down into clear-cut tiers.

Cameron had a great shot to really pull away from the rest of the field Friday. Granted, Lafayette can be a tough place to play, but Taylor Deayon was shelved with a nagging ankle injury and forced some less-experienced guards into bigger roles. But the Fighting Irish beat Cameron at its own game — great defense and timely 3-point shooting — to drag the Dragons back into the fray.

Let’s assume those bottom teams stay put and a surprising, young Smithville team shows a little inexperience down the stretch. That leaves four teams -- Lafayette, Cameron, LeBlond and Maryville -- that could grab their share of the title. With the win against Cameron, Lafayette has the upper hand at the moment, but every team in the lower half is fully capable of reshuffling the standings.

Remember, Savannah -- one of those current bottom-tier teams -- flattened Lafayette a week ago.

Three teams split the girl’s title last season. Don’t be surprised to see the same happen this year. In fact, I’m expecting it.

Of course, the entire conference slate is simply a prelude to the Class 4 District 16 tournament — where five of the teams and former MEC foe Platte County make up the entire district and will vie for a shot at the postseason. The three smaller schools (LeBlond, Cameron and Maryville) will battle for their own Class 3 title with a smattering of KCI Conference schools.

— The girls title remains up for grabs as well.

Expect to see Benton rapidly rise in the standings, but an early loss to Smithville could leave the Cardinals sharing the title again. The good news for Benton? Smithville faces a brutal stretch of games in the next week and a half — five games in eight days — and still has to go through LeBlond to remain undefeated in league play.

Smithville started that brutal stretch with a blowout win against Savannah on Tuesday.

— We obviously won’t know for a couple years, but the MEC’s Class of 2011 on the boys side could be loaded — especially in the post. Several sophomores already have worked their way into starting lineups throughout the league and will only see their roles increase.

Stepping into the sizable vacancy left by Andrew Jones, Smithville’s Dillon Deck has asserted himself as one of the area’s emerging stars and already is carrying the young Warriors. As one of the area’s leading rebounders, the 6-foot-6 Deck has been routinely recording double-doubles all season. Get used to seeing his name on the all-conference lists because he’ll be there for awhile.

And don’t sleep on Mitch Hatten and Trace Naylor over at Cameron. Hatten is already one of the league’s most well-rounded players, and Naylor can shoot the lights out when he gets going.

The biggest batch of super sophs, though, currently reside on St. Joseph’s North Side. Tim Nelson and Ian Toalson already are starting for Lafayette, and Keith Garrison is working his way into the lineup. In Toalson and Garrison, the Irish have a pair forwards who are 6-foot-4 or taller and could control the paint for the next two years.

Even though he’s not getting a lot of minutes, let’s go ahead and throw in Chillicothe’s Alex Thompson for good measure.

— While we’re here, let me throw out my meaningless MEC favorites for the next couple years.

Cameron’s ridiculous junior class should round into form and crank out a 20-win season for the Dragons next season, while Lafayette’s batch of sophomores have the potential to dominate the league as seniors.

While LeBlond’s girls will lose a very good senior class at the end of the season, the Golden Eagles have a crazy talented class of sophomores that will win a lot of games during their run. The favorite for the foreseeable future has to be Benton, though. Karli Sample’s emerging outside game gives the Cardinals that much more diversity and will help replace Holy Switzer, and we’re already hearing rumblings about an eighth-grade crop that could raise some eyebrows.

For now, let’s just enjoy the year-end drama that’s right around the corner.