The glorious career of Belleville Althoff’s Jordan Goodwin came to a close last Tuesday night. The 6’4” Goodwin injured his shoulder in a loss to East St. Louis at the Highland Shootout on Jan. 7.
Goodwin returned to the Crusaders’ lineup for a few games, but he and his family decided to shut things down when the shoulder wasn’t feeling right. He will have surgery to repair the shoulder to get ready for his freshman season at Saint Louis University in 2017-18.
In his final swan song, Goodwin dropped a couple of gems to make sure the fans remember him. In the championship game of the Belleville East Tournament, Goodwin scored 42 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a 97-94 loss to Chaminade in an instant classic. Goodwin closed out his career with 26 points and 10 rebounds in a victory over Mt. Vernon.
Goodwin walks away as Althoff’s career scoring leader with 2,324 points, passing former Crusader and Saint Louis U. great Kevin Lisch. In his final season, Goodwin averaged 29.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 52 percent from the field.
Goodwin led Althoff to two consecutive appearances in the Illinois Class 3A state championship game. Althoff finished second in 2015, but brought home the state championship to the city of Belleville last season. He will go down as one of the top players ever to compete in the Metro East area, with emphasis on the word compete. Outside of former East St. Louis Lincoln great Cuonzo Martin, I cannot think of a more ferocious competitor on the basketball court than Jordan Goodwin.
I very much look forward to seeing “J-Good” suit it up in Billiken Blue next season.
*The Return of Carte’are Gordon
Five-star junior forward Carte’are Gordon of Webster Groves made his debut in the Statesmen lineup last week and became an immediate factor in two victories. In his first game, the 6’9” Gordon had 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 67-65 victory over Ritenour. He followed that up with 18 points, nine rebounds and an array of nice dunks in a 59-53 victory at SLUH in a big non-conference showdown. Gordon is ranked among the top players in the country in the Class of 2018. He has already given a verbal commitment to Saint Louis University.
*Torrence on a tear
Whitfield junior standout guard Torrence Watson went on an impressive offensive rampage in the Warriors’ two victories last week. The 6’4” Watson scored 42 points in the Warriors’ 65-62 victory at Pattonville. A couple of nights later, Watson dropped 40 points to lead Whitfield past Lutheran North 78-61. Watson is currently averaging 28.5 points a game. He has received scholarship offers from more than a dozen major Division I schools.
*Webster Girls Classic
There is some definite star power at this week’s Webster Winter Challenge, which began on Monday at Webster Groves High. Several of the state’s top girls’ programs will be on hand. The field includes Incarnate Word, Kirkwood, Washington, St. Joseph’s, Rock Bridge, Francis Howell, Cor Jesu and Francis Howell. All of these schools are expected to contend for Final Four berths in their respective classes this season.
Some of the top players featured will be: Lauryn Miller (Kirkwood), Sonya Morris (Incarnate Word), Jayla Everett (Kirkwood), Reece Arnold (Washington), Jaidah Stewart (Webster Groves), K.K. Rodriguez (Webster Groves), Rickie Woltman (Incarnate Word), Kyra Hardesty (Washington), Tionne Taylor (Francis Howell).
The semifinals will be held on Friday night at 7 and 8:30 p.m. The championship game will be held on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
*Hazelwood Central dominates Ameritime Classic
Hazelwood Central won the championship of the Ameritime Classic at Parkway West with three one-sided victories against an impressive field. In the first round, the Hawks defeated Wentzville Liberty 57-42 behind 20 points from senior Evan White and 18 points from junior Telly Wright. In the semifinals, the Hawks defeated Parkway Central 60-35 as junior Shaun Williams scored 22 points. Williams scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Hawks past Lafayette 70-39 in the championship game.
*What’s on Tap this Weekend
Here are few top games scheduled for Friday night: Edwardsville at East St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.; Miller Career Academy at Soldan, 6 p.m.; Chaminade at CBC, 7 p.m.; Ladue at Parkway West, 7 p.m.; Priory at MICDS, 7 p.m.
On Saturday at the Bank of O’Fallon Shootout in Illinois, one of the featured games will be Webster Groves vs. Chicago Morgan Park at 7 p.m.
