Riverwar at UMSL
Prep star showdown this weekend
Of the St. Louis American
Many of the area’s top boys and girls prep basketball players will participate in this weekend’s 5th Annual Riverwar All-Star Game at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The three-game All-Star showcase is presented by Showtyme Basketball.com. The first game will be a girls game at 3:30 p.m., an I-70 Showdown 5:45 p.m. and the Missouri vs. Illinois game at 7:30 p.m. A slam-dunk contest will be held at 5 p.m. Scheduled to appear in the girls’ are Felicia Chester of Class 5 state champion Incarnate Word and Theresa Lisch of Belleville Althoff. The second game features standouts from St. Louis against a team from Kansas City while the third game will feature standouts such as James Washington and Bobby Hill of Vashon, Sanijay Watts of Jennings, Spencer Stewart and Dustin Maguire of Edwardsville.
Tickets are still on sale at Metrotix (313) 531-1111 or at the door for $10.
Little Irons
On Saturday, March 11, Vashon High basketball coach Floyd led his Wolverines to the Class 5 state championship against Springfield Kickapoo. Two nights later, Irons was in Point Lookout, Mo. to watch his son Tony direct College of the Ozarks to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II national title. Irons, a Lutheran North product, was the starting point guard for the Bobcats, who defeated Huntington University 74-56 for the national championship. Irons averaged eight points a game while leading the team in assists and steals.
Bracket thoughts
I know. I know. My predictions this year were horrible.
It was great to see: Former SLU coach Lorenzo Romar leading Washington back to the Sweet 16; Georgetown coach John Thompson III successfully filling his dad’s large shoes in getting the Hoyas back to the Sweet 16: the Missouri Valley Conference standing tall with two teams in the Sweet 16.
Some impressive sophomore big men have emerged over the weekend. You have 6’10” Lemarcus Aldridge of Texas, 7’2” Roy Hibbert of Georgetown, 7’0” Patrick O’Bryant of Bradley, 6’11” Joakim Noah of Florida, 6’9” 310-pound Glen “Big Baby” Davis of LSU and 6’9” Joey Dorsey of Memphis.
Five Impressive Women’s Players: Ivory Latta (North Carolina), Seimone Augustus (LSU), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma), Candace Parker (Tennessee), Candice Wiggins (Stanford).
J.B. All-Great Lakes
Former Belleville West standout J.B. Jones was selected to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference Second Team and Daktronics All Great Lakes Region Team for his excellent sophomore season at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The 6’2” Jones has averaged 11.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in helping the Cougars to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II National Tournament this week in Springfield, Mass.
Plummer All-Freshman
Drake University’s Jordann Plummer, a Cardinal Ritter graduate, was selected to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team. The 5’7” Plummer averaged 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds with 70 assists and a team high 52 steals for the Bulldogs, who advanced to the second round of the WNIT.