With Earl Austin Jr.
Bonner League semis Saturday
Championship Sunday
The semifinals of the River City Pro-Am Summer Basketball League (a.k.a., the Anthony Bonner League) will take place on Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Ritter College Prep. In the first game, the top-seeded BLY All-Stars will take on The Firm at 1:30 p.m. In the other semifinal game, No. 2 seed Team Craig will play the East Side Ballers at 3 p.m. The winners will play for the championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The first round games were very competitive and entertaining. The BLY All-Stars defeated Cincinnati 55-52 in the first game. The BLY All-Stars were led by Southern Illinois standout Randal Falker’s 20 points. In the second game, Team Craig defeated the Young Guns 64-46 behind 19 points from Gerald Weatherspoon and Johnathan Griffin. Saint Louis University’s Dwayne Polk led the Young Guns with 21 points.
The third game was a heavyweight match-up between The Firm and the defending Bonner League champion Outlaws. The Firm broke open a close game with a second-half spurt to come away with a 69-62 victory. Leading the way for The Firm was the frontcourt duo of 6’8” Dan Oppland and 7’0” Brian Cusworth. Oppland scored a game-high 24 points while Cusworth added 18 points. Cusworth, a former John Burroughs standout, spent much of the summer playing in the NBA Summer League with entries from Golden State and Cleveland. The Outlaws were led by former East Side and Bradley standout Phillip Gilbert’s 21 points. In the final quarterfinal matchup, East Side defeated team Holla 59-54. Former Cardinal Ritter standout Terry Evans (Wisconsin-Green Bay) and former Cahokia standout Demarius Bolds (Missouri Western) led the Ballers with 14 points each.
Passing with DJ
Kirkwood High defeated Vashon 29-25 to win last weekend’s St. Louis Parks & Recreation/US Army Best of the Best Passing Tournament at Forest Park. The 7-on-7 passing tournament was presented by the Demetrious Johnson Charitable Foundation. In the semifinals, Kirkwood defeated Roosevelt 22-21 while Vashon defeated Cahokia 35-22. DJ said it was the best passing tournament he’s had to date.
Summer with L.J.
Former O’Fallon High (Ill.) baseball standout L.J. Watson is enjoying an excellent summer campaign for the Fairview Heights Redbirds of the Monclair League. Watson, the 2006 St. Louis American Player of the Year, was selected to play in the recent Monclair League All-Star Game. At the midway point of the season, Watson was hitting a team-leading .491 with six home runs and 20 runs batted in. The Redbirds were in first place in the St. Clair Division. Watson will be a sophomore at Saint Louis University. As a senior at O’Fallon, Watson led the Panthers to their first Final Four berth in the IHSA Class AA state tournament.
Girls at Gateway
Many of the area’s top girls basketball players and teams will be participating in this week’s Gateway Shootout. The tournament, which is put on by Lou Postson, will be held at Rockwood District Schools, Lafayette, Marquette and Eureka High Schools. The action gets underway this evening at 5:15 p.m. The tournament resumes on Friday and Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on both days. Among the top teams scheduled to participate are Incarnate Word Academy and St. Joseph’s. Last year’s Shootout brought more than 50 college coaches to town, including Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, who flew in to see former Howell Central star Shakara Jones.
Wanted: 14-and-unders
The Vashon Spirits Basketball Program is looking for boys players in the eighth grade to play for its 14-and-under team. For more information, call Gary Williams at (314) 741-5915.