January 21, 2008                        Check Out previous Blogs

This time of year brings "revenge" games...why upsets...last second buzzer-beaters as some teams reach their "plateau" of performance.. what was the best game of the week in Missouri?..

At this time of the season, many teams are facing opponents that they've competed against in December. If the game isn't a crucial tournament or conference game and the teams are relatively even, it seems to me that the loser of the first game has an edge.  Here's some examples-- Farmington dropped a game to Fredericktown in December. Last week the Knights (9-9)upended the BlackCats(9-8) 59-45 on the strength of 29 of 43 FT. Earlier in year, Wm Chrisman toppled Blue Springs. Not so this time, the Wildcats out-gunned the Bears 87-86 using  a wild 32 point 4th quarter. Jerrell  Price's long 3-ball was the winner! Justin Clark scored 40 in the losing cause for Wm. Chrisman. 6 weeks ago, Jasper Eagles lost on a buzzer-beater to Colgon. Colgon (8-1) has turned around the ship as they trampled  the Eagles 83-58 this week. The wide difference could be due to the extended football season of Colgon that provided only 5 days of bball practice prior to facing Jasper in round one.

At this "stale" time of the season, some teams have peaked. The drills, patterns, "sayings" have reached their point of no return. This often leads to upsets. I don't know if that's the case but we did have some upsets.

Take a look....Boonville upset #1 Seed of the California Tournament, Mexcio 53-50. in a mid-Missouri shocker this week. Savannah Girls(12-3) beat Lee Summit West(#1 seed) 59-48. Ft Osage (12-3) returned the favor the next night to Savannah 51-32!  Annie Sayers dropped in 22 points as she led the Lee Summit North Broncos (7-6) to a stunning  35-28 victory over the Truman Patriots, #1 seed of their own tournament. Seneca, lost to Webb City Lady Cardinals by 9 points recently. This week Seneca (8-7) outslugged the Lady Cardinals (9-6) 62-57. From my view, once the calendar turns to February, the possibility of upsets slides. Good teams sense the urgency on the horizon and weaker teams are counting the days.

Yvonne Anderson catches our spotlight this week. She reached the 2000 point standard! Yvonne touched this terrific total by scoring 28 points for the Hickman Kewpies as they whipped visiting Hazelwood Central 53-44.

Kirkwood won the inaugural Lindbergh Tournament. Max Artis was the Tourney MVP as he was the catalyst in the Pioneers 65-58 victory of Hickman. Max scored 25 points in the championship game. To hear this complete game, just hit the "listen to replay" button on the left and scroll down to listen.

Best game of the past week: Marshfield Lady Bluejays (ranked #1 in Class 4 with 16-0 mark) edged the Bolivar Liberators (ranked #2 in Class 4 with 12-2 record) 47-43.  Casey Garrison led the Lady Liberators to Mizzou Arena last year. The rematch between these two powerhouses some think is the "STATE Championship"!

#2 Game of Week: Bunceton Lady Dragons (6-6) have Lindsey Hess score a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send it to OT. Despite the Jamestown Lady Eagles best efforts in the final 14.3 seconds of OT, the Lady Dragons won a 53-49 thriller. The charity stripe was the difference- Lady Dragons scored 23 points from the line !

Raising some eyebrows in St. Louis, the Moberly Spartans (15-1) spanked the Vashon Wolverines(10-6)  67-55. Eric Saunders led the way for the Spartans with 23 points.

A point to made here about specialization. Currently, many coaches and parents feel that their son/daughter has to specialize in one sport. Sometimes, this begins as early as elementary school. Maybe that works for some. I adhere to the idea that multiple sports develops various muscles, coordination, keeps a player "fresh" in each sport. I feel that players should wait to specialize until after soph year after they've tried all sports that they may compete. At Webb City, many familiar names cross the wires as football, basketball and baseball players. This week, Alan Pink scored 27 points, 11 boards as he led the Cardinals to their 2nd consecutive tournament championship. The Cards(13-4) outlasted the Branson Pirates(15-3) 80-75 in Webb City Tourney Final. Pink pops out  to  me as a baseball player  that Prepcasts  has seen down at State as a key player in the Cardinals outstanding baseball seasons.

Teams seem to go on "runs" suddenly that determine the outcome at some point of the game. Chillicothe ran off 16 straight points in 2nd quarter to buzz the Trenton Bulldogs (8-4) 64-50. The Hornets raised their record to 4-9 with the win. Similarly in a game between two very good teams, the Republic Lady Tigers (13-4)scored 13 unanswered points in 3rd quarter on the way to a victory over Carthage (10-6). Harrisburg (Class 2, #7) used a 15-4 run in 3rd period to pull away from Skyline 63-49.

Using the 3 pointer as a major weapon, the Rock Bridge Bruins (#10, class 5) swished through 10 from  beyond the arc. The Bruins knocked off visiting Lafayette Lancers easily 63-36. Skylar Tolson and Ricky Kreklow each scored 3 long-balls.

This week Prepcasts will cover the Championship & 3rd Place games of Fox Boys Tournament, the gym dedication at CBC for legendary DC Wilcutt, girls  basketball on Thursday. Meanwhile, Prepcasts MO-West and Prepcasts-Ste Genevieve will have it covered from around the whole  STATE. Check it OUT !

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