The high school basketball season got underway last week with several Thanksgiving Tournaments around the two-state area. Several metro-east teams flexed their collective muscle in taking home tournament championships last week.
Belleville East won the championship of the inaugural Centralia Thanksgiving Tournament. Edwardsville won the Waterloo Tournament while Cahokia won the Lincoln Thanksgiving Tournament. All three teams are expected to have stellar seasons in 2013.
Senior guard Malcolm Hill was the Most Valuable Player at Centralia after leading Belleville East to the tournament title. The 6’7” Hill was joined on the All-Tournament Team by 6’3” junior guard Darreon Reddick. Both players averaged nearly 20 points a game. Hill recently signed with the University of Illinois.
Edwardsville rode a balanced attack at Waterloo, led by 6’5” seniors Garret Covington and Tre Harris. The Tigers advanced to the Super Sectionals of the IHSA Class 4A state tournament a year ago. Juniors Shawn Roundtree and Armon Fletcher add to the Tigers’ talented mix.
Cahokia won all five of its games to win the Lincoln Tournament. Senior guard Keenan Minor averaged 23 points a game to lead the Comanches. Juniors Darius Austin, C.J. Rivers and senior Vincent Jackson also came up big for Cahokia.
*St. Louis Christian won the championship at the Borgia Thanksgiving Tournament. STL Christian defeated Washington 61-44 to win the title. Senior forward Javier Martinez was the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. The Cougars are a tall and talented team that goes 6’11”, 6’7” and 6’6” along the front line. Junior guard Ronnie Suggs averaged 23 points a game to lead the Blue Jays to a runner up finish at Borgia. The 6’5” Suggs scored a career-high 36 points in Washington’s first-round victory over Cardinal Ritter. McCluer North defeated Borgia to take third place. Junior guard Rashad Lindsey averaged 20 points a game to lead the Stars. Cardinal Ritter defeated Carnahan for the consolation title.
*There was a St. Louis presence at last week’s State Farm Tournament of Champions in Washington, Ill. Alton Marquette finished second in the UftringAuto Group Invitational Championship game. The Explorers were edged by Dickson County (TN) 56-54 in the championship game. Senior Jake Coddington and junior D’Tae McMurray were selected to the All-Tournament Team. Junior standout Jordan Barnett of CBC had a game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds in the Cadets loss to nationally-ranked La Lumiere Academy. The 6’7” Barnett is one of the top juniors in the country. MICDS junior forward Robin Thompson had back-to-back 20-point performances against South Miami and Alabama state power Hazel Green at the Washington Invitational.
*Here are some of my top teams to watch in 2012-13:
Class 5: CBC, Ladue, Hazelwood Central, DeSmet (who will be without injured standout Nolan Berry for some time), Chaminade, McCluer North, Webster Groves, McCluer, Troy, Fort Zumwalt South, Eureka.
Class 4: Duchesne, Westminster, Bayless, Miller Career Academy, Borgia, St. Charles, MICDS, Pacific, De Soto, University City
Class 3: Madison Prep, Maplewood, Lutheran North, Whitfield, John Burroughs, Cardinal Ritter
Class 2: Crossroads, New Haven
Illinois Side: Edwardsville, Belleville East, Cahokia, East St. Louis, Alton Marquette, Breese Central
Girls: Incarnate Word, Edwardsville, St. Joseph’s, Miller Career Academy, Mater Dei, Parkway South, Marquette, Hazelwood Central, Westminster, Ladue, Nerinx Hall, Parkway North, Breese Central, Althoff,
