“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The Christmas season is upon us, which means plenty of presents and an abundance of holiday basketball tournaments to enjoy around the St. Louis metro area. Here is a quick summary of some of the upcoming Holiday Tournaments around the area. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”> Normandy “font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”> (Dec. 27-30)
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Top Four Seeds: Soldan, Memphis Ridgeway, Cardinal Ritter, Memphis Melrose Championship Game: Friday, December 30, 6 p.m.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>2010 Champion: Cardinal Ritter
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Outlook: The 78th annual Normandy Tournament should be an entertaining one with a mixture of top area teams and some excellent teams from out of town. Joining area teams Soldan, Cardinal Ritter and Imagine Prep are Memphis Ridgeway, Memphis Melrose, Memphis Whitehaven and Memphis Wooddale along with Chicago area schools Foreman and Marshall.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”> Meramec (Dec. 26-30)
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Top Four Seeds: McCluer, Vianney, Webster Groves, DeSmet 2010 Champion: Hazelwood Central Championship Game: Friday, December 30, 7 p.m.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Outlook: McCluer, Vianney and Webster Groves come into Meramec undefeated and having won early-season tournaments. No. 4 seed DeSmet will field one of the tallest teams in recent memory. Also watch out for No. 5 Hazelwood Central and No. 6 Lafayette. A couple of good first-round matchups are No. 8 CBC vs. No. 9 Troy and No. 6 Marquette vs. No. 11 University City. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”> MICDS (Dec. 22-30)
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Top Four Seeds: Whitfield, Lutheran North, SLUH, Westminster 2010 Champion: Parkway South Championship Game: Friday, December 30, 7:30 p.m.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Outlook: This is anually one of the top small-school tournaments in the area. Also, watch for teams such as Ladue, Duchesne, MICDS, Parkway South and Career Academy in the mix. The most intriging first-round game should be Friday’s matchup between host MICDS and Career Academy.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”> Collinsville (Dec. 28-29)
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Top Four Seeds: East St. Louis, Collinsville, Quincy, McCluer North 2010 Champion: Belleville East Championship Game: Friday, December 30, 8 p.m.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Outlook: The top tournament in the metro east area features Southwestern Conference teams East St. Louis and Collinsville as the top two seeds.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Tournament newcomer McCluer North joins the field after winning the Centralia Tournament last season. Defending tournament champion Belleville East should also be a team to watch. A potential second-round matchup with McCluer North could be a tasty one. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”> Visitation Girls (Dec 26-30)
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Top Four Seeds: Incarnate Word, St. Joseph’s, Fort Zumwalt West, Kirkwood 2010 Champion: Incarnate Word Championship Game: Wednesday, December 28, 8:30 p.m.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Outlook: National powers Incarnte Word and St. Joseph’s played a classic championship game last year and many are expected another rematch this year. Fort Zumwalt West, Kirkwood and Lafayette also field quality teams.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>The first-round games were played last weekend. The quarterfinals will resume on December 26 with Kirkwood vs. Lafayette, Incarnate Word vs.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Principia, Fort Zumwalt West vs. Visitation and St. Joseph’s vs. Cor Jesu.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Chaminade (Dec. 27-30)
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Tournament Field: Chaminade, Pattonville, Bayless, John Burroughs, Parkway Central, Mehlville 2010 Champion: Chaminade Championship Game: Friday, December 30, 7 p.m.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>What can Brown do for you?
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Former Soldan High standout is putting on quite a show during his senior season at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>The 6’0″ Brown is averaging 30 points a game to lead all National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) schools in scoring. A transfer from Western Kentucky, Brown has settled in nicely at Philander Smith.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>He had 41 points, nine rebounds and eight steals on Dec. 2 against Lyon College. He also had 38 points against Wiley (Tex). He scored 28 points to lead Philander Smith to an upset victory over Division I Central Arkansas. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Big Night in the STL “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>Tonight is a big night for college basketball in St. Louis. The annual Bragging Rights Game between the University of Missouri and Illinois will be held tonight at the Scottrade Center. Missouri is undefeated and ranked in the Top 10 in the nation while Illinois has just one loss. Down the street at the Chaifetz Arena, Saint Louis University will host Arkansas State in a nonconference game. The Billikens enter the contest with a 10-1 record.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; layout-grid-mode: line;”>You can follow Earl Austin Jr.’s daily basketball reports on his website
“file:///T:/Edited%20Chris%20Dec%2022/www.earlaustinjr.com”> www.earlaustinjr.com
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