The Principia School is taking both of its talented boys and girls basketball teams to Columbia for this week’s Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 3 Final Four.
Both teams competed in state semifinal contests on Wednesday with a chance to play in today’s state championship games, which will be held at The Mizzou Arena on the Campus of the University of Missouri. The boys’ championship game will be at 4 p.m. with the girls’ championship game to follow at 6 p.m.
The girls’ team is making a return trip to the Final Four after finishing second in the Class 2 state tournament last season. The Panthers defeated two teams from the powerful Clarence Cannon Conference to get to the Final Four. They defeated South Shelby in the sectionals and Centralia in the quarterfinals.
Principia is led by 6’2” sophomore forward Dasia Scott, who is averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds a game. Freshman point guard Loganne Love is averaging 10.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists in an excellent debut season.
The boys’ team is also making its second trip to the Final Four in the school’s history. They finished second in the Class 2 state tournament in 2023. The Panthers field one of the best teams in the state, regardless of class. Principia defeated Montgomery County in the state quarterfinals last Friday night in a showdown of No. 1 and No. 2 in the state.
The Panthers feature one of the best backcourts in the state in 6’3” junior Quentin Coleman and 6’3” sophomore Gassim Toure. The frontcourt is also well-stocked with 6’9” sophomore Sekou Cisse, 6’7” junior Ronald Henry and 6’3” sophomore Wyatt Slay.
Large School Quarterfinals This Weekend
Final Four berths will be on the line this weekend for Missouri Class 4,5 and 6 schools, who reach the quarterfinals stage of the state tournament. The boys state quarterfinals games will be played on Friday around the state while the girls will hold all of their state quarterfinals games on Saturday. All of those games will be held at home sites. The winners of those games will advance to next week’s state championships from March 19-22 at Mizzou.
Earl’s World
The men’s basketball program at SIUE made history by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and earning the school’s first berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars, who downed top-seed Southeast Missouri State University 69-48 in the championship game, were led by outstanding guard Ray’Sean Taylor, who scored 20 points en route to being named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. Taylor, the former Collinsville High standout, was also the Player of the Year in the OVC after leading the conference in scoring…The Alton High girls basketball team completed a historic season by finishing third in last weekend’s Illinois Class 2A state tournament in Normal. The Lady Redbirds defeated Wilmette Loyola Academy 44-34 in the third-place game to finish the season with a 35-3 record. Alton was led by its stellar point guard Kiyoko Proctor and the frontcourt pair of Talia Norman and Jarius Powers…The Lindenwood University women’s basketball program earned a berth to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament in its second season at a NCAA Division I period. The Lions finished the season 21-10 and advanced to the championship game of the OVC Tournament last weekend…Former John Burroughs girls basketball standout Monet Witherspoon had an excellent freshman season at Tufts University. She was named the Freshman of the Year in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Witherspoon averaged 11.5 points a game while shooting 45 percent from the field. She helped lead John Burroughs to state championships in 2022 and 2024.