February 4, 2008                        Check Out previous Blogs

Feb 4, snow days or unexpected holidays play havoc on the routine of teams and some teams were bit by the upset bug on a snow day in Eastern MO...check our list of some red-hot teams heading into districts....better to be good AND lucky as opposed to lucky rather than good-read how that plays out....unusual bits from around the state this week....

On Thursday, as the weathermen had predicted, snow hit the Midwest hard. Some teams played their Friday night games as scheduled. The routines of each player is thrown way out of kilter on these special holidays. Players (I suppose, people in general) do prefer a set, established pattern of doing things. With the routines shattered, upsets! The Kirkwood Pioneers(14-7) toppled Parkway South(20-2) 80-76 as they banged in 23 of 29 from the charity stripe to ice this big win. SLUH handed Chaminade its first MCC defeat 65-58. The Jr Bills had a 14 point lead going into the final quarter and hung onto the victory. Another sign of the holiday effect was the low scoring. Of the 7 games on MO side of the river, seven teams(exactly half) scored 42 or less points!  

Often I've heard that it's better to be lucky than good. Well how about being lucky AND good! The Rock Bridge Bruins(19-2) were locked in a dog fight with the Raytown South Cardinals(15-6). With the score tied at 64, the Cardinals took away the inside pass to 6-8 Jordan Dressler (scored 31 on this night) and outside threat Ricky Kreklow. As ball was inbounded, it deflected off a couple players, was grabbed by Slylar Tolson who laid in the winning hoop for the Bruins with just 1 tick left in the game !

A 4 point play ?  Well...not exactly but in all reality it occured. After a teammate hit the front end of a 1 and 1 with 55 seconds remaining in game, Stoutland's Collin Burns snagged a long carom off the 2nd shot and knocked home a 3 pointer! This quick flurry of points propelled the Stoutland rally in the 4th quarter as the Tigers upended the Iberia Rangers 55-52 in Frisco League action.

An encore performance just a week later! After sinking the winning basket against Union, Sr. Jake Coleman  of Potosi did it again! His basket with just 8 seconds left pulled victory from defeat as his Trojan team edged Ste. Genevieve 55-54. Coleman's winning shot negated a tremendous night for Kory Faulker of Ste. Genevieve who dropped in 32 in the losing cause.

How do programs "earn" recognition ?  There are several factors-- teams being disciplined, well coached, generally a real bonafide star player, chalking up victories but more importantly-wins over quality opponents. This isn't an easy task. If a school has a program that hasn't been dominant for some time, it's hard work to become "one of the big boys" on the block. Take note of some of these schools.... Francis Howell (14-9) boys team just beat a strong Jennings team this week. Earlier this year, the Vikings went on the road to beat Joplin and Wm Chrisman. Other impressive wins over MICDS, St Marys and Miller Academy mark the progress of this program under coach Mike Storm. Cody Sorenson is the leading scorer of this team which seems to have even better days ahead. Another St. Charles county team--Ft Zumwalt West Lady Jaguars (18-3). No one hardly paid any attention to them until they handed the Lafayette Lancers a convincing 52-43 defeat. Finally (so it must seem to the Lady Jaguars), this team pounded its way into the Top 10 of St. Louis Large School. Yes...they are 18-3 !

Some red-hot teams as district looms on the near horizon. I don't claim that this is a complete list but rather some teams who have caught my attention (at just the right moment for most coaches). The DeSmet Spartans came out of the gate 2-5 this year. 6-11 Sr. John Brandenburg (Univ of VA recruit) was the inside force that teams always hope to find. After juggling personnel to find a good rotation, the emergence of soccer All-American, Will Bruin, and a stifling defense the Spartans have "found it". During the current 6 game winning streak, DeSmet has beaten Parkway South (20-2) by 18 points, Borgia (18-4) by 21 points, Hazelwood Central (15-5) by 17 points. No stranger to the Final Four, this team could be there again. The Kickapoo Chiefs, under the steady hand of Roy Green, appear to be elevating their game for the Big Show.  The Chiefs dismantled a strong Lebanon Yellowjacket team (14-9) easily this week 84-55 to serve notice to all others around the STATE. Dusty Allen leads this seasoned group of Chief players. Bill Gunn's Kirkwood Pioneers have won 8 of 9 including the aforementioned win over Parkway South. A narrow 52-51 win over a surging SLUH team last Tuesday also provided some fuel to this hot engine. Max Artis continues to be the "man" inside for the Pioneers.  On the Girls Side of the coin, the Marshfield Lady Bluejays (21-0) seem to have all the ingredients-- speed, inside and outside game, ballhandling, defense-you name it. This week the convincing victory over a talented Ozark Tiger (18-4) team 66-52. Lacey Boshe led the Lady Bluejays with 26 points. Also grabbing some attention are the Angels of St Joseph Academy(18-4) . St Joe won the Fischer Pro-Line Tournament with an impressive win over the Hickman Kewpies 54-43 in a battle of two Top 10 teams in Class 5. This game pitted two of the best guards in MO head-head. Patrice King (St Joe) and Yvonne Anderson (Hickman) both demonstrated tremendous ability to penetrate with the ball and to twist and turn their body while in the air. While these two players matched each other, the depth of St Joe was too much for the Kewpies. Myrtie Reilly's strong inside game in the 3rd quarter broke it open. Junior guards Ashley Hanlen and Beckly Handley complemented King throughout the contest. The replay of this complete game may be heard on www.prepcasts.com. Parkway South Lady Patriots, after a 10 day break, have been red hot. The pressurized defense has been turned up even more for coach Thomas Williams. Ironically, South and St Joe are in the same district !!

In a contest between two of the elite Class 3 teams, the emotions ran like roller coasters on a summer day. The N. Calloway Thunderbirds (17-1)Cara Allen was fouled twice in the last 29 seconds. Her Thunderbird team was clinging to a 34-33 lead over the Hallsville Indians(16-3). When her first shot was an airball, Hallsville fans smiled and cheered wildly. Allen's second shot hit the bottom of the net to send the cheers to the Thunderbird side. Just a few ticks later, same score, Allen's free throw odyssey continued as she bounced a shot in off the backboard (when did you last see that ?) and then shot another airball. From N.Calloway's perspective, all's well that end's well with the 36-33 win over Hallsville. Sarah Heck, 6-1 star of the Thunderbirds, had her double-double streak ended (unofficially) this night. Heck had recorded a double-double in EVERY game this year up until the battle with Hallsville where she had 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Monkey's off their back! Dexter Lady Bearcats finally broke the string! For the first time, Dexter defeated Doniphan Donettes 66-37. This was the first win EVER for the Lady Bearcats at Doniphan. Katelyn Heil led the way to this historic win with 26 points.

This week, www.prepcasts.com will take our microphones to St. Joe Acad as the Angels take on Notre Dame de Sion a power team from Kansas City on Friday. Another Friday game has the Parkway South Lady Patriots in action. On the boys side, St Charles West (Kramer Soderberg) will tip-off against Washington (Scott Suggs) on Friday to complete a terrific triple-header. On Saturday, Prepcasts will bring you the MWAA Girls Swimming Championships.

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