Cinderella in Wellston
Trojans win Class 2
In has been nearly two decades since the Wellston Trojans were the toast of the Show-Me State in boys high school basketball.
Coach Alranzo Galloway led the Trojans to state championships in 1984 and 1988 behind such stars as Edgar Wilson, Garry Beals, Jeffrey McCaw, Clarence Cain and William Gates.
There isn’t a more passionate group of followers of a high school team than the people of this small community on the North Side of St. Louis. The followers of Wellston hoops no longer have to long for the days of past championship glory because they have a new set of heroes to support in the 2007 Trojans.
The Wellston community showed up in Columbia in full force last weekend to witness their basketball team win the Missouri Class 2 state championship and restore a once proud tradition to its rightful place among the top small-school programs in the state. The Trojans defeated Mansfield 64-54 in the state championship game at the Mizzou Arena. Wellston defeated defending state champion Harrisburg 61-50 in Friday night’s semifinals.
After enduring a 10-10 regular season, the Trojans energized their city with its Cinderella run to the state title. Unlike their championship predecesors, which had great size and athleticism, these current Trojans were small in stature, but they epitomized the fighting spirit of a small community and school district that is rallying after enduring its share of adversity in recent years, leading to the state take over of the district. Last weekend’s proceedings in Columbia was one prime example that Wellston is on its way back.
“This means so much for our community,” said Wellston principal Lonnie Cole, who has been at the school as a coach, athletic director and administrator at Wellston for 28 years. “We have a lot of stuff going on in Wellston that is very positive. We still have a lot of good folks in our community. We are going to build on this.”
The architect of Wellston’s state-tournament run is head coach Sterling Bates, a 1977 graduate of Wellston. Along with assistant coaches Stanley Dooley and Nathaniel Griffin, also Wellston graduates, they have instilled a strong work ethic and sense of pride that was displayed in the team’s relentless full court pressure for the full 32 minutes.
Even when his team was struggling along at the .500 mark, he stayed the course and continued to develop his deep bench against a strong Suburban East Conference slate that included the likes of Class 5 Normandy and Class 4 Jennings, Affton, Clayton and McCluer South-Berkeley.
“This whole season has been a process because we wanted to develop players,” Bates said. “We played in a conference full top top Class 3 and 4 schools, so we knew we were getting better. Our staf really did a great job of developing these kids as winners.
“The energy that the kids played with this weekend was the same energy that they played with the entire season. Everything was left on the court. From the moment we got off the bus to the time the final buzzer sounded, we played our hearts out.”
Wellston’s superior speed and depth was clearly the deciding factor over the weekend as they wore down both Harrisburg and Mansfield while forcing 51 turnovers. The pace was fast and furious and sometimes dizzying to the spectator. To Bates, it was like heaven.
“That’s Wellston basketball,” Bates said. “We want to make it a rat race with as much pressure as possible. If you play the game at 100 miles per hour, we’re going to make some mistakes, but if the other teams makes twice as many turnovers, that’s fine with me.”
Bates made liberal use of 12 players throughout the weekend. That depth came in handy in the fourth quarter against Harrisburg when the Trojans trailed 41-40. Wellston stormed past a fatigued Harrisburg team with a 21-9 fourth quarter to take the victory.
There was less suspense in the championship game as the Trojans raced to a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and never trailed. They led by as many as 19 points before holding off a couple of Mansfield rallies in the fourth quarter.
After a being slowed down by foul trouble in the semifinals, junior guard Edward Jamerson led Wellston with 20 points in the finals, including four 3-pointers. Junior forward Dominique Bolden added 10 points and 12 rebounds while junior Lydell Patton added 12 points.
In the semifinals, Patton scored a game-high 14 points while freshman guard Isaac McClendon scored 12 points off the bench. The Trojans’ reserves scored 28 points and Bolden and senior Kevin Wrice added seven points. Sophomore center Jonathan Jolliff was a force in the middle with his shotblocking and rebounding.
Wellston fans should have plenty to cheer about in the future as the Trojans graduate only two players from this year’s state-championship team. Bates is also excited about his 21-3 junior varsity team and a good crop of freshman coming into the building next year.
