The top small-school basketball programs in the state will take center stage this weekend at the Missouri High School Activities Association Class 1, 2 and 3 state championships at the Mizzou Arena on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Maplewood-Richmond Heights and Lutheran North will represent St. Louis in the Class 3 boys Final Four while the girls of Metro are in the Class 3 Final Four, which represents the Panthers’ fifth consecutive trip to Columbia.
Maplewood (26-4) will take on Kansas City Hogan Prep (24-4) in the first semifinal game tonight at 7:50 p.m. In the next game, Lutheran North (20-11) will face Linn (27-3) at 9:30 p.m. The winners will meet on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. for the state title. Should Maplewood and Lutheran North win tonight, it will mark the second consecutive weekend that two St. Louis teams will meet for the state title. Webster Groves defeated McCluer North for the Class 5 state championship last Saturday night in an all-St. Louis final.
Maplewood will be making its first trip to state in 20 years. In 1988, the Blue Devils entered the postseason with a 10-13 record, but made a Cinderella run all the way to a third-place finish in the Class 2A state tournament. Led by head coach Corey Frazier, the Blue Devils are a high-octane basketball team that relies on pressure defense and a fast-break offense. No stranger to state-championships himself, Frazier is a graduate of Charleston High, where he was a part of Lennies McFerren’s championship dynasty in the early 1990’s.
The leader of the pack is 6’0” junior guard Bryant Allen, who is one of the top guards in the state of Missouri. An explosive offensive performer, Allen is averaging 25.1 points a game along with four assists and four steals. Allen is averaging close to 30 points a game in Maplewood’s four post-season victories. Allen will match his skills against another dominant guard in the state in Hogan Prep senior Marcus Denmon, who is headed to the University of Missouri. Denmon is averaging more than 30 points a game, including 32 points in the state quarterfinals against Bishop LeBlond. Basketball fans should be treated to a good show featuring two of the top guards in the state.
However, Allen will get plenty of support from three other teammates who also average in double figures. Sophomore guard Bryton Hobbs averages 11.8 points while senior guard Travis Howard averages 11.2 points and four steals a game. Forward Les Williams is averaging 10.8 points and team-leading 6.8 points a game. Freshmen Tony King and Calvin Belts, Jr. round out the Blue Devils’ rotation.
Lutheran North is seeking its third state championship of the decade. The Crusaders won the Class 2 state title in 2002 and the Class 3 championship in 2005. The Crusaders have been riding a big wave of momentum in the postseason. North defeated No. 2 Cardinal Ritter 47-45 in a hotly-contested district-championship game at Orchard Farm two weeks ago. They followed up by defeating No. 1 Bowling Green in the sectionals and Highland in the state quarterfinals.
Coach Brett Reuter’s squad is led by the dynamic duo of 5’10” senior Charles Dunbar and 6’0” senior Tyler Shaw. Dunbar has been an electrifying performer during the Crusaders’ postseason run. For the season, Dunbar is averaging 14.8 points, 4.2 assists while shooting 48 percent from 3-point range. Shaw, a state-champion hurdler in track, averages 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. They get support up front from 6’4” junior Joshua Armstrong and 6’3” senior Tim Friedich. Both forwards average more than eight points a game.
On the girls side, the Metro Panthers are back in familiar surroundings in Columbia. After finishing second in the state tournament in 2004 and 2005, the Panthers won back-to-back state titles in 2006 and ’07. Despite losing several key players to graduation and transfers, coach Gary Glasscock has regrouped and has his girls in a position to compete for a third consecutive state title.
The Panthers (20-11) will meet Urbana County Skyline (27-3) in the first semifinal game today at 4:30 p.m. The winner will meet either South Shelby or Hermann for the state title on Saturday at 12:20 p.m.
Leading Metro’s charge in 2008 has been 5’6” senior guard Dekeisha Mathis, a shooting star who is averaging 14.6 points, including 72 3-pointers. Forwards Jasmine Cooper and Jamielah Yancey handle the work inside. Cooper averages 12.1 points and 7.6 rebounds a game while Yancey averages seven points and seven rebounds a game. Sophomore guard Nakia Robinson also averages seven points a game.