‘Tis the season for holiday hoops and there will be plenty of it in the St. Louis metro area for the next week.
The holiday season brings us good cheer, presents, plenty of food and of course, the smorgasbord of basketball tournaments. Several teams are in action this week, but most of the action begins next week.
Here is a first look at the holiday tournament action:
Vashon heads to Florida
The Vashon Wolverines are competing in the prestigious City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Florida this week. The 16-team tournament features some of the top high school and prep school programs in the country. The Wolverines faced University High (Florida), the defending champions, in the first round on Tuesday night. Also highlighting the field is national prep school powerhouse Oak Hill Academy, IMG Academy, Olive Branch (Mississippi), Immaculate Conception (New Jersey), Paul VI (Virginia), Imhotep (Pennsylvania) and plenty of other top programs.
Incarnate Word finishes second in Hawaii
Incarnate Word Academy ventured to Hawaii last week to compete in the Iolani Prep Classic and came away with a runner-up finish. The Red Knights defeated Kalani (Hawaii) and Clovis West (California) before losing to Pinewood (California) in the championship game. Seniors Marisa Warren, Kiki Britzmann and Rickie Woltman were all selected to the All-Tournament Team.
Incarnate Word returns home to compete in the Visitation Christmas Tournament, which begins this weekend. The Red Knights (7-1) drew the top seed of the tournament.
Viz Tournament begins this weekend
The top girls’ holiday tournament in the area, the Visitation Christmas Tournament, will begin on Saturday with eight first-round games. The first round pairings are: 3) Parkway Central vs. 14) St. Joseph’s, 10 a.m.; 6) Parkway North vs. 11) Parkway South, 11:30 p.m.; 7) Cor Jesu vs. 10) Metro, 1 p.m.; 2) Edwardsville vs. 15) Visitation, 2:30 p.m.; 1) Incarnate Word vs. 16) Ursuline Academy, 4 p.m.; 8) Whitfield vs. 9) Francis Howell, 5:30 p.m.; 4) Kirkwood vs. 13) Webster Groves, 7 p.m.; 5) Hazelwood Central vs. 12) Nerinx Hall, 8:30 p.m.
The tournament resumes on Wednesday, December 26 with the quarterfinals. The semifinals will be held on Thursday, December 27 with the championship game set for Friday, December 28 at 8 p.m. The Edwardsville Tigers are the defending Visitation Tournament champions.
New Tournament at SLUH
The inaugural Legends of Winter Basketball Classic will be held this year at St. Louis University High. The 14-team tournament will run from December 27-30. Heading the field is top-seeded CBC, followed by Jennings, Hazelwood Central, Cardinal Ritter, Soldan, McCluer, University City, Hazelwood East, John Burroughs, St. Louis Christian Academy, DuBourg, Carnahan, SLUH and Urbana (Illinois). The championship game is set for Sunday, December 30 at 6 p.m.
MICDS begins this weekend
The 16-team MICDS Holiday Tournament will also get underway this weekend with first-round games being played on Friday and Saturday. The top four seeds at MICDS are Trinity, Francis Howell, Parkway Central and Wentzville Liberty. The championship game is set for Saturday, December 29 at 7:30 p.m. The top four seeds in the girls’ tournament at MICDS are Pattonville, Fort Zumwalt North, Westminster and Ladue. The championship game is set for December 29 at 6 p.m.
Big turnarounds at DeSmet and University City
There have been a couple of impressive turnaround seasons going on at DeSmet and University City. The DeSmet Spartans were 7-19 last season, but are out of the game quickly at 7-1 under the direction of second-year coach Kent Williams. The Spartans had a statement victory last Friday night with their 79-76 victory at Chaminade on a dramatic half-court buzzer beater by senior guard Evan Asleson. The 6’1” Asleson is averaging 15.9 points a game while shooting 44 percent from 3-point range. Sophomore guard Jeremiah Walker is averaging 10.5 points while 6’10” sophomore Aladji Gassamma is averaging 11.5 points and 9.4 rebounds a game. There is more firepower up front with 6’4” junior forward Michael Skoff and 6’9” sophomore Yaya Keita. DeSmet is the No. 3 seed at the upcoming Coaches vs. Cancer Holiday Tournament at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
University City finished 6-19 last season, but they are currently 7-2 with a talented young team led by veteran head coach Kelvin Lee, who has had successful runs at Chaminade and St. Mary’s. The Lions’ top scorer is 5’11” sophomore guard Justin Holland, who is averaging 12.9 points a game. Junior guard Trayvion Robinson is averaging 10.9 points while freshman point guard Larry Abbey is averaging eight points and five assists a game. Jalen Hampton, a 6’5” sophomore, is averaging nine points and eight rebounds.
