One of the top late-season events on the basketball calendar is the Bank of O’Fallon Shootout, which takes place at O’Fallon High’s Panther Dome.
This weekend’s two-day event will be held on Friday and Saturday with seven games, featuring schools from Missouri, Illinois and Iowa.
The first three games at O’Fallon will be held on Friday night. Opening the Shootout will be an excellent matchup between Alton High vs. Illinois Class 3A state power Springfield Southeast. The next matchup will be Belleville West vs. O’Fallon in a Southwestern Conference game. Friday’s finale will be Collinsville vs. Springfield Lanphier.
The action resumes on Saturday with CBC taking on Normal (Illinois) West in the opener at 4 p.m. O’Fallon will take on Triad at 5:30 p.m.; Chicago Whitney Young will face Iowa City West at 7 p.m. The final game of the event will feature Belleville West vs. Chicago Simeon in a battle of Illinois Class 4A state contenders.
Webster Girls Classic
Many of the area’s top girls’ basketball programs will be on hand at Webster Groves this weekend for the Webster Winter Classic.
The action got underway with first round games on Tuesday and Wednesday. The semifinals will be held on Friday night at 7 and 8:30 p.m. with the championship game set for Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.
Leading the field will be two-time Class 4 state champion Incarnate Word Academy, which is having another strong season behind its senior trio of forward Kiki Britzmann, guard Marissa Warren and center Rickie Woltman. Other top teams in the field include Parkway Central, Columbia Rock Bridge, Ladue, Troy and St. Joseph’s Academy.
Vashon goes 2-1 in Florida
The Vashon Wolverines made their second trip to the state of Florida to compete in a national-level tournament. Vashon participated in the Montverde Academy Classic came away with a 2-1 record while playing against three nationally ranked teams.
Vashon defeated No. 15 Long Island Lutheran (New York) in the first round before dropping a game to No. 3 and host Montverde Academy in the semifinals. The Wolverines rebounded to defeat No. 5 Wasatch Academy (Utah) in the third place game. Vashon has compiled a 13-5 record against its national schedule.
St. Louis Collegiate wins Herculaneum Tournament
Another nice story in basketball circles is the emergence of St. Louis Collegiate Prep, which is rolling along with a 16-2 record and a couple of tournament championships.
St. Louis Collegiate won the championship of the Herculaneum Tournament last weekend with a 46-45 victory over St. Pius. They won the championship of the PHL Holiday Tournament in late December.
The leader of the pack is guard Kalind Anderson, who is averaging a team-high 15.5 points a game. Forward Dakari Gray is averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds a game while Demarious Haywood is averaging 11 points and 11 rebounds a game.
Fort Zumwalt South and DeSmet win tournament titles
The DeSmet Spartans won the championship of the Circle 7 Ranch Tournament at Parkway West. The top-seeded Spartans defeated No. 2 seed Hazelwood Central for the championship game. Sophomore forward Yaya Keita scored 13 points and grabbed an incredible 26 rebounds in the game. Senior guard Evan Asleson and 6’10” sophomore Sekou Gassamma also scored 13 points for DeSmet.
Fort Zumwalt South defeated Kirkwood 65-63 in a thrilling championship game at the Union Tournament. Senior guard EJ Bellinger scored 25 points to lead the Bulldogs while junior forward J.J. Schwepker added 16 points.
