Hoops heat up in district playoffs
DeVonna Smith to SLU
The Missouri Class 4 and 5 district basketball playoffs will conclude this week with the winners advancing into next Wednesday’s sectional playoffs. The Class 5 area sectionals will be held at UMSL, Lindenwood, Meramec and St. Francis Borgia. The Class 4 Sectionals will be held at Jefferson College, Parkway West and Hannibal. All sectional boys games will be held at 6 p.m. with the girls to follow at 8 p.m.
Here is the schedule for all of the championship games which will take place involving area teams.
Class 5
District 1 (at Fox) Girls (6 p.m.); Boys (7:30 p.m.)
District 2 (at Lindbergh) Friday night, Girls at 6 p.m., Boys at 8 p.m.
District 3 (at Normandy) Thur. Night, Girls at 5 p.m., Boys at 6:30 p.m.
District 4 (at Chaminade) Girls at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Boys at 8 p.m. on Friday.
District 5 (at Hazelwood East) Saturday, Boys at 10 a.m., Girls at 1 p.m.
District 6 (at Howell) Boys at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Girls at 7 p.m. on Friday
District 7 (at Parkway North) Friday, Girls at 5:30 p.m., Boys at 7:30 p.m.
District 8 (at Vianney) Friday, Girls at 5:30 p.m., Boys at 8 p.m.
District 9 (at Timberland), Thursday, Girls at 7 p.m., Friday, Boys at 7 p.m.
Class 4
District 2 (at DeSoto) Friday, Girls at 6 p.m., Boys at 7:30 p.m.
District 3 (at DuBourg) Friday, Girls at 6 p.m., Boys at 7:30 p.m.
District 4 (at Owensville) Friday, Girls at 6 p.m., Boys at 7:30 p.m.
District 5 (at Berkeley), Saturday, Girls at noon, Boys at 3 p.m.
District 6 (at Westminster) Saturday, Girls at 7 p.m., Friday, Boys at 7 p.m.
District 7 (at St. Charles) Thursday, Boys at 7 p.m., Friday, Girls at 7 p.m.
MVP David Lee
Former Chaminade star David Lee was the Most Valuable Player of the NBA’s Rookies vs. Sophomore challenge during the All-Star Weekend festivities in Las Vegas. The 6’9” Lee had 30 points, 11 rebounds and hit all 14 of his field goal attempts. The MVP performance is just another example of the great year that Lee’s has enjoyed in his second professional season.
Lee is currently shooting 61 percent from the field, which is No. 1 in the NBA. He comes off the bench to average 11.2 points and 10.6 rebounds a game. Lee has become a beloved figure at Madison Square Garden because of the energy he brings off the bench and his ability to dunk on anybody and anytime, regardless of his reputation.
I recently had a chance to attend a Knicks game at the Garden last month and those New Yorkers love them some David Lee. This is a stark contrast to Draft Day two years ago when the New Yorkers booed and famous Knick fanatic Spike Lee had the incredulous look on his face when Lee was announced as the Knicks’ first-round draft choice. Nobody is booing now.
As for the All-Star Game itself, the one thing I enjoyed was the battle between Orlando’s Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix. Watching these two young and talented big men going against each other was pretty nice.
DeVonna to SLU
Saint Louis University women’s coach Shimmy Gray-Miller just received a verbal commitment from Kirkwood High junior forward DeVonna Smith. One of the area’s top athletes, the 5’11” Smith is currently averaging 16.7 onts, 9.8 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 2.2 blocks for Kirkwood, which entered district play with a 20-3 record and a Suburban West Conference title. An impressive leaper, Smith was also a state qualifier in track and field in the high jump last year. Smith is the second area player from the Class of 2008 to commit to the Billikens. She joins Belleville Althoff guard Alisha Goodwin as juniors who have given SLU verbal commitments. Since taking over the women’s program in 2006, Gray has managed to make the Billikens more competitive while successfully recruiting the local talent. For all of you top local girl basketball players out there, if you want to get with a growing program with a dynamic head coach and play in a brand new building in two years, it’s time to roll with Shimmy.