All-American guard Bradley Beal got his senior year started in a big way in leading Chaminade to the championship of the Pattonville Tournament. Beal scored 39 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Red Devils to a 82-65 victory over Metro Catholic Conference rival CBC in the championship game. Beal scored 24 points in the second half and did not miss a shot. He was six-for-six from the field, three-for-three from 3-point range and three-for-three from the free throw line, including four resounding slam dunks. Beal averaged 30 points a game in the tournament.
Central champs
Hazelwood Central rolled to the championship of the Jerry Boeckmann Memorial Tournament at Vianney. The Hawks defeated Clayton 86-56 in the championship game. Senior Trae Anderson scored 24 points to lead the Hawks in the finals. The Hawks have one of the most impressive teams in the St. Louis area.
Edwardsville High’s Brendan Wheeler averaged 29 points a game at the Vianney Tournament.
DeSmet also made an early statement by winning three games to take the Whitfield Classic. Sophomore forward Nolan Berry dominated inside for the Spartans.
Shootout on Saturday
Do not forget to check out the 4th Annual Molina Healthcare Midwest Basketball Shootout on Saturday at Lindenwood University. The event presented by Rameybasketball.com. The lineup includes Imagine Prep vs. O’Fallon Christian at 12:30 p.m., Branson (Mo.) vs. Memphis Wooddale at 2 p.m.; Soldan vs. Memphis Craigmont at 3:30 p.m.; McCluer vs. Chicago Farragut at 5 p.m.; Hazelwood Central vs. East St. Louis at 6:30 p.m. and McCluer North vs. Gary Lew Wallace at 8 p.m. It should be a great day of high school basketball action. Terrell has put together an excellent lineup for area basketball fans to enjoy.
College grind
On the college front, former Hazelwood East standout Gerald Fulton has enjoyed a big start in leading the University of Missouri-St. Louis to a 5-1 record. The 6’2” Fulton is currently averaging 22 points a game to lead the Tritons in scoring. He scored a season-high 32 points in a 92-75 victory over Wisconsin-Parkside in the Tritons’ Great Lake Valley Conference opener.
Former Gateway Tech standout Kenneth Harris is a starting forward for Evansville University. The 6’6” Harris is averaging 14 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. Harris scored 17 points to lead Evansville to an upset victory over NCAA Tournament runner-up Butler last week, snapping the Bulldogs two-year long homecourt winning streak in the process.
SLU on CBS
Saint Louis University will be making a visit to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C. Tip-off is at 11 a.m. The game will be televised nationally on CBS.
Coming up
The Webster Groves Classic gets underway tonight at Roberts Gym. The field includes top teams such as Webster Groves, Maplewood, Marquette, Career Academy, Oakville, SLUH, Belvidere (Ill.) North and Lee’s Summit. The semifinals will be held on Friday night at xx and xx p.m. with the championship game set for Saturday afternoon at xx p.m.
DeSmet will host Chaminade on Friday night in an early-season showdown of Metro Catholic Conference teams that won tournaments last week. Belleville East will host East St. Louis in an early-sesaon Southwestern Conference showdown on Friday night.
(You can follow Earl Austin Jr.’s daily basketball reports on his basketball website, www.earlaustinjr.com).
