Postseason basketball is upon us on both sides of the river, as the Illinois girls playoffs are underway while the small schools on the Missouri side get started next week.
The Missouri Class 3 playoffs begin on Saturday at Hancock with the District 3 tournament. Defending state champion Madison Prep will open defense of its title as the No. 1 seed in the district. The Bears will receive a first-round bye and will play the Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC-Herculaneum winner on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. The championship game will be held on Saturday, March 1 at 6 p.m. The Bears are led by 6’8″ senior Arlando Cook, 6’1 senior guard Anthony Lee and talented freshmen Levi Stockard and Daniel Farris.
The District 4 tournament will begin next Monday at Whitfield. Host Whitfield is the top seed, followed by No. 2 Maplewood. Monday’s first round games are Whitfield vs. Valley Park at 3:30 p.m., John Burroughs vs. Brentwood at 5 p.m., Maplewood vs. Principia at 6:30 p.m. and Lutheran St. Charles vs. Kennedy at 8 p.m. The semifinals will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 and 7 p.m. with the championship game set for March 1 at 5 p.m.
The top two teams in the girls district tournament are Lutheran St. Charles and Principia. Lutheran St. Charles rallied to defeat Principia in the district finals last season en route to winning the state championship. The championship game is set for Saturday, March 1 at 3 p.m.
The District 5 tournament at Lutheran North has one of the most competitive fields in the state with Cardinal Ritter getting the top seed, followed by North Tech, Lutheran North and Northwest Transportation and Law. Next Monday’s first round games include: Trinity vs. Northwest at 4 p.m., Cardinal Ritter vs. Metro, 5:30 p.m., Lutheran North vs. Sumner at 7 p.m. and North Tech vs. Orchard Farm at 8:30 p.m. The semifinals will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 and 7 p.m. with the championship game set for Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m.
The girls side figures to be just as competitive with top-seeded Cardinal Ritter, North Tech and Metro leading the way. The girls begin play on Tuesday, Feb. 25 with the semifinals scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 27 and the championship game set for Saturday, March 1 at noon.
Girls regionalsÂ
The Illinois girls Class 3A and 4A regionals will be settled this week with the champions advancing to next week’s sectional playoffs.
Perennial power Edwardsville is the top seed at this week’s Class 4AÂ Granite City Regional. The championship game will be on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Belleville East Regional features No. 1 seed Belleville West and Southwestern Conference rivals East St. Louis, Belleville East, Collinsville and O’Fallon. The championship game is set for Thursday at 7 p.m.
The two regional winners will meet in the Sectional semifinals at Edwardsville next Monday at 7 p.m.
Conference showdownÂ
There are some big games on the docket this weekend. Edwardsville will visit Alton on Friday night in a Southwestern Conference showdown at 7:30 p.m. Both teams entered the week in a first-place tie in the league. Alton defeated Edwardsville in the first meeting two weeks ago.
Other top games this weekend include, CBC at SLUH, Fort Zumwalt South at Fort Zumwalt North, East St. Louis at O’Fallon and Althoff at Centralia. A few top games on Thursday include McCluer North at Hazelwood East and Cardinal Ritter at Hazelwood Central.
Career highÂ
St. Mary’s senior guard Josh Robinson erupted for a career-high 56 points in the Dragons’ 85-76 loss to Christian-O’Fallon last week in the Archdiocesan Athletic Association Showcase. The 6’3″ Robinson has been on a scoring tear since the beginning of the season. Robinson entered the week averaging 34.8 points a game to lead the St. Louis metropolitan area.
