Holiday Tournament Recap

Wow, what a whirlwind it was during the last few days of following these holiday tournaments.
Over the past four days, I zig-zagged around the metro area and saw six different tournaments while keeping a close eye on all of the other action going on in the two-state area.
Here is a recap of the holiday tournaments, which produced some exciting basketball.

Meramec:
Webster Groves defeated Hazelwood Central for the championship 62-56 in a battle of unbeatens.
It was a fun game as both teams took turns making big runs at each other. One team looked as if they had control only to see the other team respond with a big surge of its own.
HC led 54-52 only to see WG take control of the game down the stretch with a 10-0 run. The Statesmen got great games from its three perimeter players. Senior Cortez Conners scored a game-high 19 points. Senior Derrick Dilworth added 16, including 10 in the fourth quarter, while smooth 6'3" sophomore Rayshawn Simmons had 14 points.
These three players make WG very hard to beat. All have good size, quickness and they can create their own shot and hit the 3-pointer. They are fun to watch. Junior post player Jason Meehan was an unsung hero during the game for the Statesmen. His physical work inside was a big key against Central's young big men in 6'5" sophomore B.J. McFarland and 6'6" freshman Jordan Martin.
Those two young bigs are going to be outstanding players for the Hawks, but Meehan's experience and muscle played a big role in WG "toughing" out this championship. There were several times where the Statesmen outfought the Hawks for loose balls and offensive rebounds during key stretches of the game.
Central was led by senior forward Chris Babbitt's 15 points and nine rebounds. It is good to see Babbitt back in action after missing all of last season with a knee injury. He is so active and always around the ball, creating steals and crashing the offensive boards.
The Hawks were hurt by the early foul trouble of leading scorer Jordan Wilson. He picked up his second foul midway through the first quarter and hit to sit the rest of the first half with no points. Wilson responded with 12 second-half points to help put his team in a position to win.
It was a hell of game to watch with two teams that have the talent to make very deep tournament runs in March.
WG has the look at a Final Four team. Their success is even more impressive when you look at the fact that most of these young men were key players on their state-championship football team. Coach Jay Blossom done of great job to get them so basketball-ready in a month. They are only going to get better.
The same goes for Hazelwood Central. They are still a very young team, and they are going to get better as well. The Hawks are still re-adjusting to playing without top scorer B.J. Young, who was removed from the team for disciplinary reasons. Young was averaging 17 points a game and could really create shots with ease.
McCluer defeated CBC for third place as junior Shaquille Boga scored 24 points while sophomore Demetrius Floyd added 20.
It was a good bounce-back game for the Comets, who lost a 72-70 heartbreaker to Webster Groves in the semifinals. WG's Conners hit a dramatic 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime.
Troy defeated DeSmet for fourth place while Marquette defeated Rockwood district rival Lafayette for the consolation title.

Collinsville:
Lincoln High defeated the host Kahoks 64-56 for the championship. The Railsplitters (love those Illinois nicknames) finished second last year to Belleville Althoff.
I attended the semifinal games. Lincoln defeated Althoff 71-61 in a great game. Lincoln put on a wonderful shooting display, hitting a tournament-record 14 3-pointers. They couldn't miss. Every time Althoff made a push, Lincoln would respond with a 3-pointer.
Junior guard Jordan Nelson was incredible for Lincoln. He had 31 points against Althoff in the semis, then followed up with 29 points in the finals against Collinsville. The 6' Nelson could stroke the long-range jumper, take defenders off the dribble for mid-range jumpers while still running the show and getting the ball to Bucknell-bound teammate Ben Brackney, who can also shoot it from deep.
A tip of the cap also has to go to new Collinsville head coach Darrin Lee on making the Kahoks competitive again. After a 6-22 season in '09, Lee has come in and instilled some discipline and the Kahoks have responded. It should be no surprise. Lee was one of the state's top coaches during his very successful run at Nashville.
Oakville won three games in the tournament, thanks to the play of 6'5" senior Garrett Reeg, who scored 99 points in four games. I watched Reeg dominate Belleville East in the consolation semis with 34 points. If you are a college coach in need of a young man with a textbook low-post game, Garrett Reeg is the man for you. Oakville also got some good news with the return of 6'4" junior guard Javier Duren to the lineup. Duren saw his first action of the season after missing several games with an injury sustained during football season. With Duren, Reeg and a excellent supporting cast, the Tigers have a chance to make a lot of noise down the road. They snuck up on a lot of people last year in advancing to the Final Four for the first time in the school's history. Don't sleep on the Tigers!

Centralia:
There is no program in the area that sneaks up on people like the Cahokia Comanches. Coach Darris Nash has perfected the art of laying in the weeds, then springing up and pulling stunning upsets and winning championships. His Comanches have won a couple of regional championships in such a manner. Cahokia pulled off another stunner when they knocked off undefeated O'Fallon 62-60 to win the Centralia Tournament. Senior forward Jarrion Norris scored 13 points to lead a very balanced Cahokia attack as they won their first Centralia title. Cahokia defeated the host Centralia Orphans earlier in the day to advance to the championship game.

Other Tourney Action:
Chaminade defeated Parkway Central 65-57 to win the championship of its won tournament. All-American guard Bradley Beal scored 29 points to lead the Red Devils. On another positive note, CCP head coach Kelvin Lee is back at home and resting after being rushed to the hospital with chest pains a few days ago before his team was to play in the first round against Bayless.
Breese Central defeated Nashville 40-36 to win the Mater Dei Tournament. Sophomore forward Brandon Book scored 18 points to lead the Eagles.
Murphysboro defeated Triad 69-62 in the championship game of the Columbia/Freeburg Tournament in a battle of unbeaten teams.
Edwardsville defeated Effingham 52-51 in the championship game of the Charleston Tournament as 6'6" senior William Triggs scored 25 ponts.
Fort Zumwalt South rallied to defeat Holt 67-62 in the championship of the St. Dominic Tournament. South trailed by nine points at halftime, but rallied behind their young kids. Sophomore guard George Cater had 17 points and eight assists while freshman Jordan Swopshire had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Seckman won its won tournament with a 57-51 victory over Rockwood Summit. Senior Travis Leslie scored 29 points to lead Seckman. He averaged 30 points a game for the tournament. Summit's Kevin Dwyer had a game-high 31 points in the final.
In girls action, Mater Dei won the Mascoutah Tournament with a trilling 54-51 overtime victory over Belleville Althoff. It was the second time that these two teams have met in a tournament final with Mater Dei winning both games. MD defeated Althoff to win the Alton Tip-Off Classic in November. It also marked the 400th victory in the coaching career of Mater Dei coach Dave Kohnen. Congratulations, Coach. Mater Dei is now 15-0 on the season.

Wow, that was a lot of basketball and I had the chance to sample a little bit of everything. It should set up a nice conference season as we get ready for the postseason rush.