It will be homecoming weekend for two former great women’s basketball players from the St. Louis area who now coach at the collegiate level.
Notre Dame will take on California at 3 p.m. Saturday in the inaugural Citi Shamrock Classic at Enterprise Center. The main attractions of the contest will be St. Louisans Niele Ivey and Charmin Smith, respective head coaches of The Fighting Irish and Bears.
Both were star high school players in St. Louis in the 1990’s. Ivey was an All-American at Cor Jesu Academy, while Smith was a standout player at Ladue High School. Both reached the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and spent time in the WNBA before entering the coaching ranks.
Ivey led Cor Jesu to consecutive Final Four appearances in the state tournament, including the Class 4 state championship and an undefeated season in 1995. She was a standout player at Notre Dame and helped lead her team to a national championship game victory in 2001. The Final Four of the NCAA Tournament was held in St. Louis that year.
Ivey was tabbed as Notre Dame’s head coach in 2020 to replace Hall of Fame legend Muffet McGraw. Ivey played for her and was her lead assistant before taking over the head coaching position. Last year, Ivey led Notre Dame to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a very young team.
Smith, a 1993 graduate of Ladue, played for national power Stanford. She was a part of three Final Four teams and three Pac 10 Conference championship teams with the Cardinal. She entered the coaching ranks after spending six years in the WNBA. She was the associate head coach at Cal for more than a decade before being named the head coach in 2019.
Notre Dame is ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25. Cal is unranked, but Smith says her team is prepared for improvement.
“This team has more depth than last year,” she said. “We have some perimeter abilities that we didn’t have last year, some people that are more dynamic on the wing that we’re excited about.”
*Winston Moore commits to Colgate
MICDS football standout Winston Moore has given a commitment to attend Colgate University. The 6’1″ 185-pound Moore is a standout as a running back and receiver with big-play ability. Through 11 games, Moore has rushed for 756 yards and has caught 22 passes for 319 yards and 31 touchdowns in helping lead the Rams to a 10-1 record. Moore enjoyed a tremendous performance last Saturday with six touchdowns in a 60-46 victory over Lafayette in the Class 5, District 2 semifinals.
Last week’s Football Standouts
*Running back TaRyan Martin of East St. Louis rushed for 280 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns in the Flyers’ 40-0 victory over Normal Community West
*Wide receiver Javeion Tiller of Summit had six receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns in the Falcons’ 59-26 victory over Union.
*Running back Ricky Dixon of Lutheran North rushed for 204 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns in the Crusaders’ 37-21 victory over Lutheran-St. Charles.
*Running back Quaran Williams of Parkway North rushed for 258 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns in the Vikings 32-25 loss to Vashon.
*Running back Jeremiyah Love of CBC rushed for 119 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns in the Cadets’ 41-3 victory over Kirkwood.
*Running back DJ Burgess of Parkway Central rushed for 156 yards on 16 carries in the Colts 42-0 victory over Clayton
*Senior Amarion Oliphant of Duchesne scored three touchdowns on a 90-yard kickoff return, 35-yard blocked punt and a three-yard run in a 55-0 victory over St. Pius X.
*District Football Championship Games
(All games will be at 7 p.m. Friday unless noted)
Class 6
District 1: Marquette at CBC
District 2: DeSmet at Rock Bridge
Class 5
District 2: MICDS at Eureka
District 3: Fort Zumwalt North at Francis Howell
District 4: Timberland at Helias
Class 4
Festus at Hillsboro
Summit at St. Mary’s
Vashon at Parkway Central
St. Dominic at Hazelwood East, Saturday, 1 p.m.
Class 3
Herculaneum at Cardinal Ritter
Lutheran North at St. Charles West
Sullivan at St. Clair
Class 2
Lift for Life at New Madrid Central
Borgia at Blair Oaks
Class 1
Brentwood at Duchesne
IHSA State Quarterfinals
Class 6A: Crete Monee at East St. Louis, Saturday, 6 p.m.
Class 5A: Peoria at Mascoutah, Saturday, 3 p.m.
Class 2A: Althoff at Johnston City, 6 p.m.
