If you enjoy conference tournament basketball action at the collegiate level, the St. Louis area is the place to be this weekend.
The Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Tournament will be held at the Enterprise Arena in the downtown area while the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournaments, men’s and women’s, will be held this week at Lindenwood University in St. Charles.
The Valley Tournament begins play on Thursday and will conclude on Sunday afternoon with the championship game at 1 p.m.
MVC regular-season champion Bradley gets the No. 1 seed after winning its first outright title since 1986. The winner of Arch Madness will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The GLVC is one of the top Division II leagues in the country. The men’s championship game will be held on Sunday at 1 p.m. to be followed by the women’s championship game at 3:30 p.m. The winners will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
*East Side rolls to Regional Title
The East St. Louis Flyers looked very dominant in rolling to the Illinois Class 3A regional championship at Jacksonville. The Flyers defeated Taylorville 74-35 and host Jacksonville 76-42 to improve their record to 22-8. East Side was led by 6’6″ senior All-State forward Macalaeb Rich, who scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the championship game against Jacksonville. Junior guard Robert McCline averaged 14 points a game in the regional tournament. He entered the postseason with a 19-point performance against Belleville East in the regular-season finale.
District decisions
The high school basketball postseason continues this week with the large schools taking center stage at district tournaments at the Class 4, 5 and, 6 levels. Here is a look at those district tournaments involving St. Louis metro area teams. If you want to see the entire brackets, you can visit the www.mshsaa.org website.
BOYS
Class 6
District 1 (at Kirkwood): Championship Game, Monday, March 6, 6:30 p.m. – Host Kirkwood is the No. 1 seed with its 22-2 record.
District 2 (at Eureka): Championship Game, Monday, March 6, 6 p.m. – A wide open field with Parkway West as the No. 1 seed with Eureka, Marquette and Lafayette.
District 3 (at SLUH): Championship game, Monday, March 6, 7 p.m. – A loaded district featuring Metro Catholic Conference rivals CBC, Chaminade and SLUH, who were all district champions last season.
District 4 (at Francis Howell): Championship Game, Monday, March 6, 6 p.m. – Troy is the top seed with Francis Howell and St. Dominic looking to challenge.
Class 5
District 2 (at Vianney): Championship Game, Monday, March 6, 6 p.m. – A very competitive district led by No. 1 seed Cardinal Ritter, along with host Vianney, Webster Groves and St. Mary’s.
District 3 (at Ladue): Championship Game, Monday, March 6, 6 p.m. – MCC co-champion DeSmet is the No. 1 seed with host Ladue and McCluer North looking to challenge.
District 4 (at Parkway Central): Championship Game, Monday, March 6, 7 p.m. – Westminster gets the top seed behind the play of standout senior guard Kobi Williams.
Class 4
District 4 (at MICDS): Championship Game, Friday, 6 p.m. – A very competitive district with John Burroughs as the No. 1 seed with rival MICDS at No. 2 and a talented Whitfield team right there as well.
District 5 (at Lift for Life): Championship Game, Friday, 6:30 p.m. – Top seed Vashon is seeking its third consecutive state championship with its loaded squad. Miller Career Academy has also been solid.
District 6 (at St. Charles): Host St. Charles is the top seed with University City and Soldan looking to challenge.
District 7 (at St. Charles West): A wide open field with No. 1 seed Lutheran-St. Charles is looking to hold off the likes of St. Charles West and Orchard Farm.
GIRLS
Class 6
District 1 (at Fox): Championship Game, Monday, March 7, 6:30 p.m. – Jackson is the top seed with Cor Jesu and Lindbergh looking to challenge.
District 2 (at Eureka): Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7, 6 p.m. – An interesting district with teams from the St. Louis area and Southwest Missouri. Host Eureka is the No. 1 seed.
District 3 (at Hazelwood West): Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7, 6 p.m. – Top seed Incarnate Word is looking to keep its championship dynasty and long winning streak going.
District 4 (at Francis Howell): Championship Game, March 7, 6 p.m. – A wide open field with Francis Howell Central as the top seed followed by Troy, Fort Zumwalt West and Timberland.
Class 5
District 2: (Webster Groves): Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7, 6 p.m. – Top seed John Burroughs has moved up to Class 5 after winning the Class 4 state championship last season.
District 3 (at Parkway North): Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7, 6 p.m. -Whitfield drew the No. 1 seed with Parkway Central right behind.
District 4 (at Fort Zumwalt South): Championship Game, Tuesday, March 7, 6 p.m. – Lutheran St. Charles is the top seed and one of the top contenders in Class 5.
Class 4
District 4 (at Lift for Life), Championship Game, Saturday, noon, – Ursuline Academy is the top seed with host Lift for Life being a strong challenger.
District 5 (at Cardinal Ritter): Championship Game, Saturday, 2 p.m. – Vashon is the No. 1 seed and a top contender. Cardinal Ritter is a strong No. 2 seed.
District 6 (at MICDS): Championship Game, Saturday, 1 p.m. – MICDS is the top seed with Metro League rival Lutheran North looking to challenge.
District 7 (at Orchard Farm): Championship Game, Saturday, 1 p.m. – Visitation Academy and Westminster are the top two seeds.
