February 25, 2008                        Check Out previous Blogs

District Championships saw some ghost-busting action... some top teams dodge the bullet while others were shot up in flames...some key players were injured ... one player scores 43 points and loses!..usual mixture of upsets....it was all there.....read our "take" on it.... 

It seems that many Championship teams escape "by the skin of their teeth" at least once early in Districts or STATE tournaments. Then, they go on to win the big enchilada. Well...how about defending Class 5 Champion, McCluer North (22-4)narrowly edging Hazelwood Central 62-61 in a battle of familiar Suburban North foes. The return of Femi John (SLU recruit) came none too soon for the North Stars. Another escape was seen out in KC Area. The unbeaten Raytown Cardinals (25-0) were pushed to OT and actually trailed with 45 seconds left in regulation to the Lee Summit West Titans. The Titans took their first lead of the game with only 2 minutes left in the game but the Bluejays scored the game-tying bucket in the waning seconds. Escaping the noose in regulation, it was all Raytown in OT as the Bluejays pulled out a 71-66 win. Could it be McCluer North vs Raytown in the Finals ?  Who knows but each has already escaped one dangerous game along the way.

One top-seeded team that couldn't escape two sharp shooters were the Kickapoo Lady Chiefs(21-6) . The Chiefs fell to the dynamic duo from Ozark, Bri Anton and Courtney Grimlin who accounted for 42 points in the 49-36 win of the Tigers. Ozark (23-5) will now face the Waynesville Tigers in sectional play.

43 points wasn't enough !!  Yvonne Anderson (Texas U recruit) notched 43 points for her (#7 ranked) Hickman Kewpie team but still the (#8 ranked)Rock Bridge Bruins (21-6) used a finely balanced attack that saw their high scorer record just 8 points on the way to a 52-50 win over the Kewpies. That's right--43 of 50 points !! Anderson took all but three of her team's first half shots! She scored on every possible type shot and was electrifying but now will watch from the sidelines as the Bruins take on Ft Zumwalt West Jaguars on Wednesday. That game will be www.prepcasts.com .

Bill Murray wasn't needed for the ghost-busters of Bolivar.  After nearly 50 years, the ghost of 1960 Bolivar coach Bob Brown was banished! It's said that this coach of 1960, who won district, sectional, regional and Class M championship, had a hold on the LIberators' Boys team fortunes ever since that time. Finally, the Bolivar Liberators 68-55 win over Marshfield has set everyone FREE again !  "The ghost of Bobby Brown is finally solved", Bolivar Coach Chuck Blair said, "The Liberator jinx is over !"

Another long district title draught came to an end for the Branson Pirates. It had been since 1962 since Branson had hoisted a district tile plaque. Last week, the Pirates upended the Republic Tigers 65-53 to end the draught. Branson came in to the tourney seeded #1 and lived up to expectations by using a tight 1-3-1 zone to stifle the Tigers offense

Still other strange things happened on the weekend of this ghost-busting. St Charles West outstanding guard, Brian Maurer dislocated his knee early in the 2nd quarter. The Warriors(27-1) , using ace Kramer Soderberg as the usual hub, went on to a 60-49 victory over St Francis Borgia (21-6). Maurer actually returned to the bench in the 4th quarter after his knee had been "popped" back into place. West was voted #1 in the latest MO writers poll. Their tangle with #3 Moberly on Wednesday should be a terrific battle.

Coaches don't usually miss games. I think that I've missed 1 game in 34 years of high school coaching and that's when I was an assistant coach. Of course that 0-6 team won their first game when I wasn't there which always made me wonder ! Anyway, to continue the thought...to miss a district game is very, very unusual. Well, due a death in the family, Lafayette's Denise Meyer was unable to attend her District Championship game on Saturday. Her Lancer (20-6) team, dedicating the game to their coach, went on to an easy 51-31 win over the Howell Central Spartans. Next up for the Lancers are the red-hot Angels of St Joseph Academy. St Joe knocked off highly talented Parkway South on Friday night in a great game. That game will be www.prepcasts.com !

Following a similar script as the semifinals, the Parkway South Patriots got into foul trouble, let Ben Hoener dribble drive through defenses over and over again, had Mark Wright down jump shot buckets when needed and pulled away from their opponent in the final quarter, in this case, Marquette for a 72-60 win. South will be on www.prepcasts.com again in sectional play against an un-named opponent (as of Sunday night).

Congrats to the five  schools with both girls and boys teams advancing into Class 4 or 5 sectional competition. They are the: Ozark Tigers (who beat Kickapoo for both titles), Rock Bridge Bruins,  Waynesville Tigers, Branson Pirates and Bolivar Liberators. Interestingly, there are no KC or St Louis teams with double winners ! Berkeley Bulldogs do have both teams playing for district titles on Monday.

MISSOURI ATHLETIC CLUB

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