It was a tremendous weekend of basketball for the Miller Career Academy girls. The Phoenix knocked off two high-powered opponents at the St. Louis MLK Basketball Showcase, which was held at North Tech High in Florissant.
On Saturday, Career Academy defeated Kansas City area power Blue Springs 44-37. Blue Springs has finished second in the Class 5 state tournament the past two seasons. Senior forward Shanity James and junior forward Amanda Scott scored 10 points each to lead the Phoenix.
However, Career Academy was just getting started.
Two days later, the Phoenix upset nationally-ranked Memphis Central 59-54. They trailed by six points going into the fourth quarter before rallying for the big upset over Central, which was ranked No. 14 in the ESPN Top 50 national rankings for girls basketball.
Sophomores Breannan Farrar and Zhanesha Dickerson came to the forefront against Memphis Central as both scored a team-high 16 points while James added 12 points.
It has been an excellent season so far for Career Academy, which is currently 12-3 while playing against a national schedule. After advancing to the quarterfinals of the Class 4 state tournament a year ago, the Phoenix have their eyes set on a Final Four berth and perhaps the school’s first ever state championship. They finished third in 2010.
The Phoenix are led by James, a 6’0″ forward who is the only senior on the team. She averages 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds a game. Farrarr averages 12.1 points and a team-high 4.8 assists and 3.6 steals a game. Dickerson averages 10.1 points and 5.2 rebounds while junior Abrelyn Rackley averages 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds.
Career Academy has two more challenging games down the road as they will visit defending Class 5 state-champion Incarnate Word on Jan. 31 and Class 5 state power Fort Zumwalt West on Feb. 4.
* The upcoming Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout has been moved from the Chaifetz Arena to the Scottrade Center. The eight-game basketball showcase will be held on Thursday, January 26. Many of the area’s top boys and girls players and programs will be on display.
Here is the schedule for the Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout:
MICDS vs. Westminster Christian (girls), 9:30 a.m.
MICDS vs. Parkway South, 11 a.m.
Belleville East vs. Belleville West, 12:30 p.m.
Alton Marquette vs. Glenbard East (Ill.), 2 p.m.
Webster Groves vs. McCluer, 3:45 p.m.
St. Joseph’s Academy vs. Bolingbrook (Ill.) girls, 5 p.m.
Vianney vs. Cardinal Ritter, 6:30 p.m.
Soldan vs. Riverside Academy (LA), 8 p.m.
* A few of the area’s top players enjoyed huge scoring performances last week. Riverview Gardens junior Tyrin Williams scored 50 points in the Rams’ 71-68 victory over Northwest Academy. Williams went on to lead the Rams to the championship of the Denver Miller Tournament at Kirkwood. Lutheran North’s Anthony Virdure scored 45 points against Fort Zumwalt East in the first round of the D.C. Wilcutt Tournament at CBC. Lutheran North finished second in the tournament to host CBC. Cardinal Ritter’s Cameron Biedscheid scored 43 points in a victory over Kennedy last week.
(You can follow Earl Austin Jr.’s daily reports on his basketball website, www.earlaustinjr.com. You can also follow Earl on Facebook and at twitter.com/earlaustinjr).
