Postseason high school basketball has tipped off on both sides of the river. Small schools are participating in district playoff competition in Missouri, while girls’ teams have taken center stage in Illinois with regional and sectional competition.
St. Louis area teams are competing in Class 3 district playoff action at respective sites Bishop DuBourg and Louisiana.
Host Bishop DuBourg is the No. 1 seed in the boys’ tournament while St. Pius is top seed on the girls’ side in District 4. The boys’ championship game is at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. Friday.
The championship games for the District 5 tournament will be held on Saturday with the girls’ game at 5 p.m., followed by the boys’ game at 7 p.m.
On the Illinois side, the Edwardsville Tigers and O’Fallon Panthers came through with IHSA Class 4A regional championships last week. Host Edwardsville defeated Alton 63-57 to win its 18th regional championship. O’Fallon defeated Collinsville to win the Belleville West regional.
The winner of Tuesday night’s Edwardsville-O’Fallon sectional semifinal game advanced to tonight’s sectional championship game at Joliet Central.
We will have previews of the large school district playoffs next week.
Tatum’s All-Star Weekend
Congratulations once again to St. Louisan Jayson Tatum on his participation in last weekend’s National Basketball Association All-Star Game. It was the former Chaminade College Prep All-American’s third appearance and he played 20 minutes in his second start. He had eight points, four rebounds and five assists. Tatum’s Boston Celtics enter the season’s home stretch as one of the hottest teams in the NBA.
Phillip Russell shines at SEMO
Former Vashon High basketball standout Phillip Russell is having a tremendous freshman season at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. The 5’10” guard is a top young player in the Ohio Valley Conference and was named the OVC’s Freshman of the Month on multiple occasions this season.
Russell currently averages 14.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game while shooting 36 percent from 3-point range. On February 7, he posted his season’s best performance in a victory at SIU-Edwardsville. He had 35 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and five steals in SEMO’s 76-47 victory. He became the second player in NCAA Division I ranks in the past 25 years to have a game of 35 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
Pattonville girls go back-to-back
Congratulations to the Pattonville High girls’ basketball team on winning the championship of the Suburban Conference Red Division for the second consecutive season. The Pirates are a young and talented team led by head coach Donnie Boyce, a former standout player at Pattonville in the mid-1990’s.
The Pirates are currently 18-4 heading into the final week of the regular season, with 5’8” junior guard Jasmine Gray leading the way. Gray is averaging 16 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 4.1 steals a game. There have also been plenty of other contributors to the Pirates success this season.
Zoe Newland, a 5’7” junior is currently averaging 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. Junior point guard Taylor Montgomery averages 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and four assists a game. Jnylah Curtis, a 6’0” junior averages four points and a team-high eight rebounds a game. Brooke Boyce is a 5’9” freshman who averages 5.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Guard Hannah Fenton is another talented freshman who averages five points a game while junior guard Cami Stacker averages seven points, four rebounds and two assists a game.
*MoBap wins AMC Title
Congratulations to the Missouri Baptist University men’s basketball team on winning the American Midwest Conference regular season championship. The Spartans are currently 15-1 in conference play and 23-5 overall, heading into this week’s AMC postseason tournament. The MBU program is led by Preston Ingram, who took over as head coach in 2019.
To see full brackets, you can visit the respective state websites for Missouri and Illinois at www.mshsaa.org and www.ihsa.org.
