March 9, 2009                        Check Out previous Blogs

It's the best of times (moving on to STATE) and the worst of times (ending seasons and careers) for the STATE Quarterfinalists. It wasn't exactly a tale of two cities but rather a tale of two stories in several settings with different schools.

The Tale of Two stories at UMSL was about two shots--one that fell and one that failed in the STATE quarterfinals at UMSL. In Class 5 Girls action, Hazelwood Central (25-2) and  Ft Zumwalt West (24-5) were tied  47-47 with just under a minute remaining. The Hawks had the ball as each team was content to let time tick away. When the Hawks called time out with 9 seconds left, Coach Wendy Reeves drew up her plans. All in the stands thought that the ball would go to Charlonda Bozeman or Chantiera Johnson who had carried the Hawks back into the game....ah yes....best laid plans...with only 4 ticks left,  guard  Candyce Ussery took a long 3 pointer from way beyond the arc that found the bottom of the net for the game winner and send the Hawks to Mizzou Arena.

The next game at UMSL saw another tale. Parkway West was trailing 53-51 to Chaminade(25-4) , who had gone ice cold at the free throw line, when West(23-7) gets off a game ending 3 pointer. The Longhorns saw their successful season end as the the shot missed. It'll be fun to eyeball up close Bradley Beal, super soph who scored 26 points and is filling up the stands with big-team college coaches, competing against the best players in games next week.

Rock Bridge high school experienced their own different tales of two sorts also.  The Boys, ranked #1 for parts of the season, fought off a valiant and talented Branson Pirate team. The Pirates, tied the game at the 44.1 second mark when All-Stater (OK...maybe I'm a little premature with the honor) Mike Welbe tied the game at 53 with two terrific plays. Coach Jim Scanlon, called time out, settled down his Bruins and watched them manage the end of the game beautifully as they advance with a 56-53 win. After dropping post season games in the last 2 years to the Pirates, the Bruins will travel (probably could walk) to Mizzou Arena to face Chaminade.

Meanwhile, the Lady Bruins (the defending STATE Champions of Class 5) fell to the Nixa Eagles.  Nixa used the hot shooting of 6-3 Aly Stock to grab a halftime lead of 24-15.  In the 2nd half, a patient, persistent, ball control offense (sounds more like a 4th quarter football drive) led by Bethanie Funderburk iced the game for the Eagles. The Bruins were forced into fouling and the Eagles knocked them down.

Speaking of a school facing the tale of two stories. We already talked about Haz Cen Girls winning at the buzzer. In probably the biggest surprise to many observers, the Hazelwood Central Boys Team was trounced by the Oakville Tigers (23-7)  68-48. Oakville opened up a wide lead in the 2nd quarter behind Keith Pickens twisting layups, blocked shots, drives to the baskets and rebounding. After withstanding a Hawk rally in the 3rd quarter, Javier Duren took over with 18 points and handling the Hawk defensive pressure that had pulverized many other opponents. Garrett Reeg was a bear on the boards throughout the game against the talented Hawks

In the Southeast part of the state, our "tale" saga continues with a slightly different twist. Favorites (Dexter Girls and Sikeston boys) were expected to advance. Well...once again two different tales.  The unbeaten Dexter girls (28-0) were able to overcome foul trouble to two of their leading scorers and outlast a strong Sullivan team. It wasn't until late in the 3rd quarter when the Dexter went on a 23-0 run to turn a 9 point deficit into a lead 39-25 lead!  The stingy defense and ball control offense wrapped up things for Dexter late in the game.

Meanwhile, Sikeston was stymied by a barrage of treys early. St Francis Borgia jumped on the Bulldogs with eight 3-balls in the first half. Sikeston found some of that magical "trey ball" touch as the game unfolded and finished with 10 "threes" themselves. As the game tightened in the final quarter, the Knights were "money" at the free throw line with 9 straight bullseyes and went on to win 51-41 and continue their season!

One tale that stayed true was with the Blue Springs Lady Wildcats(27-2). With Wildcats coach Mark Spigarelli now on the bench after a highly successful run at Pembroke Hill, two college bound players and a plethora of solid players, the CATS used a 12-0 run to pull away from  Liberty(20-9) 59-40. The CATS will face Hazelwood Central next weekend.

At another site, the tale seemed to take a turn as the baton was passed from one program to another (for at least this year). The highly successful St. James girls team (who have been an annual power for a long time) were dropped by the Webb City Cardinals(25-4)  60-39. The Lady Cards will be making their first trip in Girls Basketball to STATE. Kaitlin Jaeger racked up 26 points on way to the victory for Webb City. The matchup of the seasoned Dexter Girls team versus the young Cardinal team should be very enjoyable to watch.

Seemingly never in the tale, the Nerinx Hall Markers overcame their quarterfinal hurdle by scoring the last 10 points of the game to pull away from Parkway North (26-3)  and win 39-29. The game was tied at 29 with 6:47 remaining but the Markers tightened up the defense and moved along in the tournament. While having very strong teams in recent years, Nerinx has often been in the shadows of the #1 and #2 teams of the rugged MWAA White Division- St Joseph Academy and Incarnate Word Academy. To make it even more amazing, the Markers lost leading scorer Mary Beth Mathias to injury a few weeks ago !   WOW....one just never knows...that's why we play the games !!

This week Prepcasts announcing corp moves to Mizzou Arena. We'll be behind the microphones as the games are brought to you on the MSHSAA Internet Network. All the semifinals and 3rd place games maybe seen as a PPV product for $4.95/game. The Championship  games will be available on FREE audio. Click the link on Prepcasts to take you there directly or click www.mshsaanetwork.com

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