It is now time to review some of the action that took place at the holiday tournaments around town last week.
The Normandy Holiday Tournament was won by the host Vikings for the first time since 1947. The Vikings defeated Cardinal Ritter 62-59 for the championship, giving them their first tourney title since the ‘47 Normandy team that also won the state championship as well.
Senior guard Anthony James scored 26 points to lead the Vikings. Senior forward Isaac Moore added 15 points. The 6’3” Moore was selected the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament from the basketball website, STL Hoops Insider. Guard Anthony Jones led Cardinal Ritter with 26 points.
Vashon defeated Soldan 80-70 in the third-place game. Despite the fourth-place finish, senior guard Kendrick Brown of Soldan was one of the big hits of the tournament. The 6’0” Brown averaged 27.8 points in the tournament, including 38 points in the third-place game. Brown also delivered perhaps the play of the year against Vashon when he drove the length of the court, did a spin dribble and proceeded to dunk over a number of Vashon players, bringing the house down at Viking Hall. It may have been the most spectacular dunk at the tournament since David Thirdkill’s memorable left-handed dunk off a missed free throw 30 years ago. It’s ironic that it was another Soldan player who provided the big highlight-reel dunk.
*The Chaminade Red Devils defeated McCluer South-Berkeley 75-66 in the championship game of the Chaminade Tournament. The Red Devils are the area’s hottest teams, having won nine consecutive games after a 1-2 start. Chaminade raced out to a 25-4 lead in the first quarter and coasted to the title. Junior guard Brandon Lockhart has been splendid during the streak. He scored 20 in the championship game. The freshman duo of Brad Beal and Brandon Hannah combined to score 20 points while Hannah added 11 rebounds. The two teams will meet again in a rematch on Tuesday, Jan. 8….McCluer North and Gateway Tech travelled two hours to Carbondale, Ill. to compete in the Carbondale Holiday Tournament and both wound up playing for the championship. McCluer North came away with a 69-60. Senior guard Femi John scored 19 points to lead the Stars. Gateway Tech’s Jesse Perry scored a game-high 24 points in the finals….St. Charles West defeated Webster Groves 55-54 to win the Meramec Holiday Tournament behind 30 points from senior guard Kramer Soderberg. O’Fallon remained undefeated after defeating Memphis Mitchell 94-78 to win the Centralia Tournament for the second consecutive year. Senior Brock Conley scored 29 points while Kenny Leverette added 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Parkway South won the MICDS Tournament with a 66-61 victory over Jennings. Junior Ben Hoener scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Patriots. The victory offset big performances by the Jennings’ duo of Brian McGee and Tristen Bradford. The 6’7” McGee had 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks while the 6’3” Bradford had 13 points and 18 rebounds.
*On the girls side, St. Joseph’s Academy defeated Incarnate Word 54-43 in a big showdown to win the Visitation Holiday Tournament. Senior guard Patrice King scored 19 points to lead the Angels, who rallied in the second half to take the title. Hazelwood Central defeated Parkway South 44-41 to take third place….Belleville Althoff defeated city rival Belleville East 56-54 to win the Mascoutah Tournament. Sophomore guard Jazmin Hill scored 20 points to lead the Crusaders, who remained undefeated at 15-0. McCluer South-Berkeley defeated McCluer North 61-27 to win their won Christmas tournament. Senior guard Meghan Lewis had 22 points, five steals and four blocks to lead the Bulldogs.
*I would like to thank everyone for the early support of my new book “The PHL in the STL” on the history of basketball in the Public High League. I will be having a book signing on Saturday, January 12 at Afro World (7276 Natural Bridge) from 3-5 p.m. Come on out and get your book and talk a little PHL hoops. Also, don’t forget to pick up your copy for $20 at the St. Louis American (4242 Lindell Blvd.), Johnny Mac’s Sporting Goods (Florisssant and Sunset Hills locations) and on-line on my website at www.earlaustinjr.com. Stay tuned on my website, because I will have video footage of several former PHL greats as we get ready to put out the DVD version real soon.
*Congratulations to Cardinal Ritter basketball coach Marvin Neals, who recently picked up his 500th career coaching victory. Neals reached the milestone on December 21 when his Lions defeated Lutheran (St. Charles). Neals is already a Hall of Famer with three state championships to his credit.
