Chaminade vs. McCluer heads Championship Friday

A host of early-season tournaments will have their championship games tonight at various schools around the area.
The Pattonville Tournament final will feature a showdown between Class 5 state champion Chaminade against McCluer. Tip-off is at 8:15 p.m.
The battle within the game will be between two of the state's top juniors and summer basketball teammates Brandon Beal of Chaminade and Shaquille Boga of McCluer. The two junior standouts have been grade school teammates for many years and summer hoops teammates with the St. Louis Eagles, which had one of the top 16-and-under teams in the nation last summer.
Beal, who committed to Florida earlier this week, is averaging 26 points a game in Chaminade's two victories over Hazelwood West and Lafayette. Boga, a 5'10" point guard, was electrifying in the Comets' 74-73 victory over CBC in the semifinals. Boga scored a career-high 43 points in leading the Comets back from a double-digit deficit. Boga is a clutch performer who loves to perform in the highest of high-pressure situations.
Both teams are loaded with underclassmen. Chaminade starts five juniors, with Brendan Kelly, Luke Baumgarner, Aaron Lombardo and Giovanni Ferrara joining Beal. McCluer is even younger with Boga, 6'6" junior DeAries Tate leading the way along with sophomores Demetrius Floyd, Tyrone Griffin, Alex Henry and freshman Shaquille Edwards in the mix.
McCluer defeated Chaminade in last year's semifinals on their way to winning the Pattonville Tournament last year.
There is also the SLU Billiken connection on the sidelines. McCluer's head coach in former Billiken star Erwin Claggett while Chaminade's coach is former SLU assistant coach Kelvin Lee, who was on the staff when Claggett led the Billikens to NCAA tournament berths.
CBC will play Lafayette in the third-place game with Jennings and Hazelwood West to meet for fifth place.

In the Vianney Tournament, top-seeded Hazelwood Central will face host Vianney for the championship. The Hawks have rolled out to a 4-0 record with its variety of offensive weapons, led by 6'4" senior Chris Babbitt, 6'2" junior B.J. Young and many others. The Golden Griffins will be underdogs, but they not be pushovers on their own court. They have a nice 6'5" post man is senior Jake Voelker and some good guards in senior Joe James and sophomore shooter Tony Cochran.

The Southside Classic will conclude tonight at DuBourg with SLUH and St. Mary's hooking up for the championship in a 8 p.m. tipoff. The Junior Billikens have a sizable unit with 6'5" Mike Maybarger and 6'4" Tim Cooney on the perimeter and 6'6" senior Mike Butler leading a tall front line which also includes a 6'8" and a 6'9" in the lineup. St. Mary's is led by senior Jonathan Connelly and his 21 points a game. Junior Kevin Brotherton checks in at 12 points a game.

Trinity and Principia will hook up in the championship game of the Valley Park Tournament tonight at 7:30 p.m. Trinity is looking to build on last season's breakthrough year with 19 victories. They are led by guard Marquise Hill, who's headed to Arkansas on a football scholarship. Principia advanced to the finals with a thrilling 59-57 victory over Brentwood last night in the semifinals. Forward Tim Gilman had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead Principia. There always seems to be a Gilman ballin' at Principia and doing nice things on the court. Like Hank Williams Jr. sang, "It's a family tradition."

On the girls side, Cardinal Ritter will meet Westminster Christian in the championship game of the Orchard Farm Tournament tonight at 7 p.m.
Ritter is off to a fast start after winning the Class 3 state title last season. The Lions are led by Tiera Baker (18 ppg.), Hazaria washington (13 ppg.) and Breanna McCullough (12.5 ppg.). The Lions also play excellent defense, which is the cornerstone of their success. Westminster has a fine all-around player in sophomore Courtney Powell, who is averaging 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals a game.

Hazelwood Central's girls won the Suburban North Conference tournament last night with a 63-30 victory over McCluer in the championship game. The Hawks were convincing throughout the tournament, winning their three games by an average margin of over 30 points. Central graduated several members of last year's Class 5 third-place team at state, but the Hawks have appeared to have reloaded. Junior guard Jasmine Crawford led the Hawks with 25 points and eight steals against McCluer. Fellow junior guard Candyce Ussery added 11 points and four steals.
Hazelwood West defeated Pattonville 51-44 in the third place game while McCluer North defeated Riverview Gardens 46-39 for the consolation championship.
Bishop DuBourg defeated Notre Dame 47-44 to win the Southside Classic title last night in an entertaining game at Lutheran South. Junior center Jamie Buehrig led the Cavaliers with 17 points.