Floyd Irons may not be patrolling the sidelines at Vashon this season, but his pedigree was well-represented at the Shootout. Three of his former Vashon players are head coaches who had talented teams in the Shootout.
Randy Reed (Class of ’79) has the McCluer North Stars off to a 6-0 start. Gerald Jones (Class of ’86) has McCluer South-Berkeley out of the gate quickley. The Bulldogs defeated Affton 57-45 at the Shootout. Anthony Bonner (Class of ’86), who succeeded Irons at Vashon, has the Wolverines off to a 3-1 start. Vashon dropped a 43-40 decision to Alton at the Shootout.
Tourney winners
The boys basketball teams from McCluer North and St. Charles West have to be saluted for going above and beyond the call of duty last week. Both teams won tournaments last week as well as their respective games at the 26th Annual Shootout last Thursday night.
McCluer North won four games in four days in winning the Troy Tournament. The Stars defeated Riverview Gardens, Columbia Rock Bridge and the host Trojans to win the tournament. In between days, McCluer North defeated Illinois Class A power Pickneyville 51-47 in the Shootout.
St. Charles West won four games in five days. The Warriors won their own tournament, defeating Lutheran North, Fort Zumwalt South and rival St. Charles in the process. West defeated San Diego Hoover in the Shootout.
Lacey laces us
The Alton Redbirds entered its showdown with a three-game losing streak. The streak appeared headed for four games as they trailed the Wolverines in the fourth quarter. That was when standout guard Kavon Lacey said “Enough was enough.” The 6’0″ senior guard scored 16 of his game-high 22 points to lead the Redbirds to a 43-40 victory.
He’s Abel
McCluer South’s Berkeley’s 6’6″ junior center Abel Tillman had his own personal block party against Suburban East Conference foe Affton. Tillman blocked a Shootout record 10 shots and altered countless others as he closed down the middle on defense. Tillman also had an offensive highlight late in the first half as he threw down a thunderous two-hand tip-dunk.
Bills at home
The Saint Louis University Billikens have an important stretch of home games coming up for the rest of December. After hosting Tennessee-Martin on Saturday night, the Billikens will host highly-regarded Missouri State of the Missouri Valley Conference (Dec. 18), national power North Carolina (Dec. 22) and Mississippi of the Southeastern Conference on Dec. 30. The big non-conference games will play a big part of determining SLU’s chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament in March.
Earl on Earl
Remember to purchase your copy of “Earl Austin Jr’s Awesome 20 Years of St. Louis Prep Basketball.” They are on sale at Johnny Mac’s Sporting Goods (five locations), Sportsprint (Bermuda Road in Ferguson) and any high school basketball event that I attend. I will be at the Visitation Girls Holiday Tournament selling tabloids on Saturday from 11 a.m. to about 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 1:30 to 8 p.m.
