At the end of the every high school football season, I am usually bombarded by my friends in Kansas City after their area teams dominate the St. Louis area teams in the Show-Me Bowl.
I hear it all the time about the West Side of the state taking home all of the football trophies. It happened again this season when the West Side took home five of the six state football championships.
However, my answer to them is simple and always the same. Just wait until basketball season. It will even out. St. Louis rule again.
True to form, the MSHSAA Class 5 boys state basketball championships were held this weekend and St. Louis took center stage once again. There were three St. Louis area teams in the Final Four for the second consecutive season. In the championship game, Webster Groves defeated McCluer North 71-62 in an all-St. Louis final.
As a side note, congratulations to the community of Webster Groves on winning another state title at the expense of my alma mater. The Statesmen played with great heart and passion to win the championship, while avenging last year’s heartbreaking overtime loss to the Stars in the state quarterfinals. Coach Jay Blossom put in several years of hard work to get his team to this point and he relied on a standout guard in Drew Hanlen and an excellent supporting cast to bring the title back to Webster Groves for the first time since 1996.
After watching our football teams get clubbed on Thanksgiving weekend every year, it was nice to see the teams from the ‘Lou rise up and dominate the Show-Me Showdown basketball weekend. After the Webster Groves-McCluer North tussle, Fort Zumwalt South took the court and proceeded to defeat Independence Truman 61-58 in the third-place game.
So, the top three finishers in the school’s largest class are from St. Louis.
Boom!
And there is a chance that history might repeat itself this weekend at the Class 3 state championships. Maplewood-Richmond Heights and Lutheran North are playing the semifinals tonight. They could possibly meet on Saturday afternoon for the state title.
If you have followed basketball over the years, this should come as no surprise. Last season, McCluer North won the state title with Fort Zumwalt finishing third and Lindbergh finishing fourth in the Class 5 tournament.
In the past 20 years, 14 of the large-school state championships have come from the St. Louis metropolitan area. In that same time period, the only Kansas City area teams to win were Kansas City Rockhurst (1989), Raytown South (1990) and Liberty (1998) During six of those years, it has been an all-St. Louis championship game. On five of those occasions, three of the four teams making it Columbia have come from the metropolitan area.
So, when the end of football season rolls around and your buddy from Kansas City wants to rub some salt about how they dominate the Show-Me Bowl, just tell them what I always tell my co-horts.
Basketball season is just around the corner.
MO vs. IL
Several of the area’s top boys and girls high school basketball players will be on display at the 2008 Missouri vs. Illinois All-Star Basketball Showcase, presented by Rameybasketball.com. The event will be held on Saturday, March 22 at Harris-Stowe State University. The five-game extravaganza will begin with two eighth-grade all-star games with the girls at 2:30 p.m. and the boys at 3:45 p.m. The Missouri vs. Illinois girls game will follow at 5 p.m. The event concludes with two Missouri vs. Illinois boys game at 6:30 and 8 p.m. It has been a great year for high school basketball, especially for the senior class. Get out and watch your favorite players as they wind down their stellar prep careers.
Earl live
On Saturday, March 22, I will be appearing at the Education 4 All Author Showcase and Book Fair to sell my book on Public High League basketball history, The PHL in the STL. The program will be from 12-4 p.m. at the Heman Park Community Center (975 Pennsylvania) in University City. The booths will be open from 2-4 p.m. The event is sponsored by Prioritybooks Publications. It is free and open to the public. If you are an author and have a book to sell, you can participate as well. For more information, contact Carletta Washington at (314) 438-8440. Hope to see you there.