The St. Charles Pirates pulled off one of the most dramatic comebacks in the history of the state basketball tournament to win its first state championship since 1957.
St. Charles rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat Springfield Hillcrest 74-69 in the Class 4 state championship game, played last Saturday at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia. The Pirates’ last state championship came in 1957 when they were coached by the late Gene Bartow, who went on to coach at Memphis State, UCLA and UAB.
The Pirates trailed 39-18 in the first half and 57-44 heading into the fourth quarter before staging its epic rally. The comeback was led by 6’2” senior guard Casey Teson, who scored a game-high 35 points. Teson shook off a cold-shooting first half to score 29 points in the second half. Fellow senior guard Chase Morfeld scored 20 points while senior forward Josh Roglon added nine points and 13 rebounds. St. Charles finished the season with a 28-4 record.
St. Charles advanced to the championship game with an impressive 73-49 victory over Bolivar in the semifinals. The Pirates were clicking on all cylinders offensively as they shot 55 percent from the field and made 10 of 19 from 3-point territory. Teson and Morfeld scored 23 point each to lead the Pirates.
The biggest surprise of the weekend came in the Class 5 state tournament when No. 1 ranked Chaminade was stunned 53-50 by Park Hill South in the semifinals on Friday night. Chaminade held a 30-19 lead at halftime, but were unable to hold off a determined Park Hill South team, which pulled off the big upset.
Park Hill South was the only team from the state of Missouri to defeat Chaminade this season. Chaminade’s other three losses came to Bentonville (AR), DeMatha (MD) and Chicago St. Rita in high-profile showcase events.
All-American junior Jayson Tatum led the Red Devils with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but he was held without a field goal in the second half as Park Hill South mounted its rally. Junior Tyler Cook had 15 points, eight rebounds and five powerful dunks for Chaminade.
The Red Devils rebounded in a big way the following day to defeat Metro Catholic League rival SLUH 71-35 in the third-place game. Tatum led the Red Devils with 30 points, five rebounds, three assists and four blocks. He was 10 for 15 from the field and six for seven from 3-point range. Fellow juniors Cook and Michael Lewis scored 12 points each. Chaminade finished the season with a 25-4 record.
SLUH took home the fourth-place trophy after losses to Blue Springs South in the semifinals and Chaminade in the third-place game. The Jr. Billikens were making their first Final Four appearance in 33 years.
In the semifinals, SLUH was defeated by eventual state champion Blue Springs South 61-52. Sophomore guard Brandon McKissic scored a team-high 14 points while 6’5” senior forward Hunter Schmidt had 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Schmidt scored a team-high 10 points in the third-place game against Chaminade. SLUH finished the season with a 19-13 record.
On the Illinois side, Belleville Althoff made its first appearance in the Final Four and finished as state runners-up in the IHSA Class 3A state tournament. In the semifinals, the Crusaders defeated two-time defending state-champion Chicago Morgan Park 82-74.
Junior forward Brendon Gooch led a balanced scoring attack with 20 points. Sophomore Jordan Goodwin had a near triple-double with 18 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. Junior guard Tarkus Ferguson had 17 points while sophomores Marvin Bateman and C.J. Coldon added 14 and nine points, respectively.
The Crusaders were edged by Westchester St. Joseph’s 67-63 in the championship game. It was a rematch of a game at the O’Fallon Shootout in February, also won by St. Joseph’s 97-95 in double overtime. Goodwin led Althoff with 23 points and 12 rebounds while Ferguson and Coldon added 12 points apiece. Althoff finished the season with a 29-4 record.