“font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;”>It was a great day for St. Louis-area basketball last Thursday night at Lindenwood University as Chaminade on McCluer North in their nationally televised showdown on ESPNU. Top-ranked Chaminade remained undefeated with an impressive 76-58 victory over the Stars as All-American guard Bradley Beal put on a show befitting of a McDonald’s All-American.
In yet another
spectacular display on the big stage, Beal displayed his all-around
excellence with 40 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals
and three blocks. Beal was tremendous and very stylish, but he did
it in a solid, workmanlike fashion. He has that rare quality of
old, school values and fundamentals combined with the flair of
today’s ESPN highlight reel society. That is a tough double to
accomplish, but Beal pulls it off as easily as he drops those
25-foot jumpers that swish through the net with barely a
ripple.
Bradley’s game has
gone to yet another level as a senior because he is about 25 to 30
pounds heavier than he was when he entered high school. He is now a
physical beast. In the past, teams could try to body up and get
physical with him to throw him off, but that is an impossible task
now because he explodes through contact like an NFL running back
powering through an arm tackle. Let’s see, a mid-range game, the
deep ball and the ability to get to the rim and finish with force.
That’s called impossible to guard.
Chaminade is going
to be difficult to beat folks and Beal’s greatness is just the tip
of the iceberg. His teammates are good players as well. They know
their roles, but they are also capable of knocking down open shots
when Beal finds them. Senior forward Brendan Kelly is starting to
come around after coming back from an early-season injury. He had
12 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday. Senior Luke Bumgarner scored
eight points, but knocked down two open 3-pointers. Sophomore Andy
Kleinlein has been knocking down open 3-pointers with Steve
Kerr-like efficiency throughout the season while Tevin Evans is an
athletic combo scorer.
Beal’s counterpart
in the showdown, McCluer North’s B.J. Young, finished with a
team-high 24 points. Although B.J.’s performance was overshadowed
by Beal’s overwhelming show on this day, I was impressed with how
he approached the game. Although he attacked the basket often, he
wasn’t reckless and selfish. B.J. did a nice job of letting the
game come to him and finding open teammates. He took the double
teams and distributed the ball for open looks, but the shots did
not fall. Young finished with just two assists, but had the Stars
hit a few more of those open jumpers, he would have had six or
seven assists.
Junior guard
Tremayne Garrett had 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and
three steals. The 6’3” Garrett has been coming on strong lately,
averaging 13 points in the past five games. Junior center Jordon
Granger added 13 points.
Overall, it was
wonderful to see our young ballers from the STL in the national
spotlight. As an alum of both McCluer North and Lindenwood U., it
was even better to see both of my alma maters showcased on national
television.
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Pioneering
fun
“font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;”>I had the opportunity to catch the St. Louis Pioneers last weekend in American Basketball Association action. The Pioneers are a local pro team that is full of players from the St. Louis metro area. They plan an entertaining brand of basketball where fast breaks and 3-point shooting are the order of the day. Last Saturday, the Pioneers scored 133 points in a victory over the Michiana Monarchs.
Some of the former
local standouts on the Pioneers include Dwayne Polk (Vashon/Saint
Louis U.), LaPhonso Ellis, Jr. (Belleville East), Phillip Gilbert
(East St. Louis), Jonathan Griffin (Normandy/UMSL), Mark Stovall
(Jennings/McKendree) and several others. Another top player is
former And 1 Mix Tape star John Humphrey, a.k.a. “The Helicopter.”
The head coach is former CBC standout Marc Stricker.
The Pioneers play
their home games at St. Louis Community College at Meramec. They
have eight home games remaining on February 18, 19, 20, 25, 27, and
March 4,5,6. For more information on the Pioneers, you can visit
their website at
“file:///Z:/www.STLPioneers.com”>
“color: blue;”>www.STLPioneers.com
If you want to
catch up on what some of our former area standouts are doing these
days, take in a Pioneers game some time.
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Playoffs
around the corner
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This is the final
week of the regular season for Missouri schools in Classes 4 and 5.
The district playoffs will begin on Monday, Feb. 21 at sites around
the area. Class 5 district playoff sites are Cape Girardeau,
Hazelwood Central, Webster Groves, Lafayette, DeSmet, Lindbergh,
Troy and Fort Zumwalt East. Class 4 district sites include
Hillsboro, St. Mary’s, Clayton, Beaumont (games at Gateway Tech)
and Duchesne.
Buckle up folks.
The excitement is about to begin.
You can follow
Earl Austin Jr.’s daily basketball reports on his website
“file:///Z:/www.earlaustinjr.com”>
“color: blue; text-decoration: none;”>www.earlaustinjr.com
which celebrates the past, present and future of St. Louis
basketball, and with his daily update on
stlamerican.com.
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