When I got off the plane after watching Saint Louis University play in the Atlantic 10 Tournament in New Jersey back in 2007, I immediately hit the highway and headed to Columbia, Mo. for the state basketball championships.
My alma mater, McCluer North High, was playing Kansas City Rockhurst for the Class 5 state title. McCluer North defeated Rockhurst to win their first state championship in boys basketball. I wanted to make sure I was there to see it. It was indeed a proud moment.
What I didn’t know at the time was I was witnessing the beginning of the next great dynasty in Missouri high school basketball.
Six years later, McCluer North defeated Nixa 69-60 to win back-to-back Class 5 state titles and complete a tremendous run of success.
McCluer North basketball and winning championships have become synonymous with one another, thanks to head coach Randy Reed and a group of very talented and determined young men.
McCluer North’s run of excellence has been unbelievable. In the past six years, the Stars have won three state championships and played for the state title four times. They have won the state’s toughest district tournament six of the past seven years.
That Stars have competed and won just about every in-season tournament imaginable. They won the Normandy Tournament in 2010, the Troy Tournament four times from 2006-09, the Borgia Thanksgiving Tournament in 2010, the Carbondale Tournament in 2007, the Centralia Tournament last season and the Collinsville Tournament this season. If there is competition out there, Randy will find it.
Last weekend’s state championship completed a year-long mission for the Stars, who entered the season unranked after winning the state title last season. With superstar guard B.J. Young leaving for the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Stars were relegated to also-rans status.
However, Reed and his veteran group of nine seniors had other ideas.
After losing to Borgia in the championship game of the Thanksgiving Tournament, the Stars did not lose again. Their combination of depth, talent, athleticism, experience and Reed’s leadership proved to be too much for the rest of the state. Again.
That championship experience was never more evident in last Saturday’s final against Nixa, which mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally to tie the game at 54-54 in the closing minutes. Undaunted, the Stars answered
with an 8-0 run to bring home the trophy.
Senior forward Jordon Granger stepped up and became the Stars’ prime-time performer. The 6’8″ Granger had 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in the Stars’ 58-54 victory over rival McCluer in the district finals. In the state-championship game, Granger led North with 26 points and 16 rebounds. He played big-boy basketball throughout his senior year.
Senior guard Galen Brown was also huge. The standout football quarterback really came into his own as a basketball player this season as he was named the Suburban North Conference Player of the Year. He scored 20 points in the state semifinals against Lee’s Summit West and 18 in the finals against Nixa.
Several players came up with big performances in Columbia. Senior point guard Byron Ray had 19 points against Lee’s Summit West. Senior guard Tremayne Garrett added 11 points in the semifinals. Sophomore forward Dorian Holland had 15 points in the championship game. Senior guards Tocari Finley and Damon Clemons provided offensive spark off the bench all season while seniors Latron Thomas and Keith Jones and junior Terrance Bush brought athleticism and muscle up front.
The common denominator to all of this success is of course, Reed. He played for a legend in Floyd Irons at Vashon in the late ‘70s and another legend in Bob Nelson and Forest Park C.C. and yet another legend in Jack Hartman at Kansas State.
Now, Randy Reed has done a tremendous job of building his own legend at McCluer North. As a North Star alum, I like it.
