Earl’s 30 in 30

Earl Austin Jr. is celebrating his 30th year as sports editor at the St. Louis American. To commemorate the occasion, Earl has put together a list of 30 of the top high school games that he’s witnessed during those 30 years. The next installment features the great high school basketball rivalry between Webster Groves and CBC during the 1995-96 season.

The high school basketball rivalry between Webster Groves and CBC was so good during the 1995-96 season that one game wasn’t enough to satisfy area basketball fans.

The two talented teams played three exciting games during the season with each one more thrilling than the last one.

To get a full grasp of this rivalry, you have to go back to 1994 when two highly-regarded young players entered the high school ranks. CBC had a very talented young guard named Larry Hughes entering the program. Meanwhile, Webster Groves was gaining a future standout of its own in Johnnie Parker.

Even when they entered high school, the debates around town immediately got started. Who was better? Johnnie or Larry. Or Larry or Johnnie. Larry Hughes was this high flying guard with these show-stopping handles and the ability to score from anywhere. Johnnie Parker was this smooth-shooting forward who was transitioning into a big guard. And for the next four years, these two talented players battled each other tooth and nail. Their duels drew huge crowds and continued to create great interest around the St. Louis area.

Their first prime-time meeting came when CBC met Webster Groves in a district championship game at SLUH in 1994. The game came down to the final possession when Hughes sank a last-second 3-pointer to give the Cadets a dramatic 51-50 victory and a district championship.

Fast forward a couple of years and Hughes and Parker have grown to 6’5” and 6’6, respectively, while becoming two of the best players in the state. Their respective teams have also become state championship contenders in the process.

Parker was teamed up with 7’0” senior forward Tate Decker, a multi-talented big who had already committed to the University of Missouri. He would eventually be named Mr. Show Me Basketball at the conclusion of the 1996 season. They were a dynamic combination. They were joined by 6’6” small forward Sam Snelling, 6’2’ guard Spencer Taylor and physical 6’3” forward Dan Wacker. 

Meanwhile, joining Hughes in the lineup was 6’7” junior Justin Tatum, a talented power forward. They were joined by athletic 6’5” guard Marcus Allen, 6’5” forward Mark Haaser and 6’4” sharpshooter Marc Stricker.

The first meeting was in the championship game of the Meramec Christmas Tournament. The fans that jammed into the venue to watch the game would have to wait awhile because the prelim games were also terrific. It was arguably the best single day in the history of the tournament.

In the consolation championship game, DeSmet defeated Lafayette behind a spectacular 44-point performance by 6’9” forward Matt Baniak, who was also a member of that talented Class of 1997 group. It was a single-game tournament record. What followed was an epic third-place game between Mehlville and St. Charles West. The Panthers outlasted St. Charles West 86-81 in a four-overtime thriller. The Panthers featured many of those great athletes from their great football teams such as Jason Eberhart, Melvin Williams and Robert Franklin. St. Charles West was led by future Saint Louis Billiken, the young brother of McDonald’s All-American Ryan Robertson.

The gym was packed to capacity for that third-place game. The only problem was that there were hundreds of people waiting outside who were CBC and Webster Groves fans. That made things rather interesting.

After a four-overtime instant classic, the championship game itself had a tough act to follow, but it lived up to the billing and then some. The two teams battled on even terms from the opening team to the final seconds of the game when CBC had the ball. That was when Hughes drove the lane and found Haaser, who hit a running jumper as time expired to give the Cadets the victory and the championship. A lot of happy Cadets rushed the floor to mob their classmates; especially Haaser, who was the unsung hero with a team-high 16 points.

The rematch was set to take place a couple of weeks later at CBC. I did not get to attend this one, but once again, it came down to the final possession of the game. This time, it was Webster Groves who emerged victorious as Parker put back a missed shot at the final buzzer to give the Statesmen a 53-51 victory.

Those first two games only whet the appetites of area basketball fans for what will be a third and final showdown between the two teams, who happened to be in the same district. That game would take place at Ladue High School. One game for a district championship. Tip off was scheduled for 7 p.m.

What I vividly remember about that day was showing up at Ladue at 4 p.m., three hours before tip-off. To my surprise, the parking lot had dozens of cars already on it. Folks were definitely arriving early to make sure they got a good seat for this one. That lot was completely filled and overflowing about two hours before tip-off. 

“I just remember the lines being wrapped around the corner,” Parker said. “It was a surreal feeling. You dream about certain moments and the gym being packed like that.”

The game itself lived up to the hype with all of the momentum shifting runs that the two teams made at each other. The Statesmen had built a comfortable 10-point lead in the third quarter, but CBC responded with some full-court pressure, which resulted in a big surge to take a one-point lead as the quarter was coming to a close.

And just when it looked like the Cadets had snatched the momentum heading into the fourth quarter, Parker struck again with another buzzer beater. This one happened at the end of the third quarter as he took an inbounds pass and banked in a fadeaway from about 35 feet to give the Statesmen the lead back. 

“I put up a lot of shots during the summer and I think I practiced a lot of shots like that,” Parker said. “I think I was almost darn near out of bounds when I let the shot go and it went off the back board and in.”

The Cadets led briefly in the fourth quarter, but Webster rode the momentum of Parker’s dramatic shot and finished the job with a 67-58 victory and the district championship. Snelling put an exclamation point on the Statesmen’s victory by throwing down a reverse dunk as the orange and black clad Webster Groves cheering section went wild.

Webster Groves rode that momentum all the way through the state playoffs as it defeated Riverview Gardens, Vashon, Truman and West Plains to win the state championship.

Hughes would lead CBC to the state title the following year in 1997. During the summer, Hughes and Parker teamed up with several other talented players from St. Louis to lead the St. Louis Eagles to the Amateur Athletic Union national championship.

“The whole class of 1997 was very talented throughout the city,” Parker said. “Larry and I have been creating those types of moments from seventh and eighth grade. I think it kind of solidified us as the two guys in St. Louis in that class, going head to head. Our talents kind of matched each other. For us to be able to create those types of moments like that was surreal. And to this day, a lot of people still talk about those games and the caliber of entertainment that we created. It was amazing.”