Normandy Tournament Recap

The McCluer North Stars made their debut in the Normandy Holiday Tournament a memorable one with a championship performance.
The Stars defeated Raytown South 55-50 in the championship game to remain undefeated at 9-0. The Stars employed a good defensive effort and a methodical power game to stop the high-flying athletes from Raytown South.
Senior forward Denzel Reed had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead North while beefy 6'5" senior Ryun Davis added 16 points. The senior trio of Reed, Davis and point guard Ollie Roundtree led the Stars to yet another tournament title.
It was McCluer North's second tournament win of the season. The Stars won the Troy Tournament earlier this month, defeating highly-regarded Columbia Rock Bridge in the finals.
In the past five years,McCluer North has won tournament titles at Normandy, Chaminade (three times), Carbondale (twice) and Troy (four times). That does not include the three Final Four banners and state championship in 2007.
McCluer North got another bit of good news this week when it was learned that junior power forward Brandon Hannah was going to enroll in school on Monday at the beginning of the second semester. The 6'3" Hannah was a major force in helping lead Chaminade to the Class state title last year. Hannah was at Hazelwood West, but was rumored to be returning to Chaminade. Who knows? If he does turn up at North, it will bolster the Stars even more in 2011. Hannah has missed the entire year of sports with a knee injury.
Chicago Orr defeated Cardinal Ritter 86-79 in a very entertaining third-place game. Orr's Michael Henry turned in a magnificent performance with 46 points. The 6'6" was the best player in a tournament full of top-flight talent.
Congratulations to Normandy High Athletic Director Malcolm Hill on putting together an excellent tournament full of talented teams and players. The Normandy Tournament is definitely on its way back. Anybody who didn't come over to Viking Hall because they thought the Normandy Tournament was lacking talent and pizazz really missed out on some dynamic players. Malcolm has really done a nice job of reaching out to some top teams for the tournament in and out of St. Louis. He has a nice waiting list of teams wanting to get in future tournaments.
Orr's Mike Henry is one of the top players in Chicago and he displayed his talent all week long at Viking Hall. He could hit the 3-pointer easily, slash to the basket and dunk with authority. He had one highlight reel play in the semifinals when he dunked over Raytown South's 6'11" senior Joe Cooper.
Raytown South was led by senior point guard Corey Hilliard, who is being recruited by several NCAA mid-major programs. The Cardinals also boasted one of the nation's top freshmen in 6'6" swingman Ishmail Wainright, who is already on the radar of many of the nation's top programs.
Wellston's outstanding junior forward-guard Ben McLemore was also excellent in leading the Trojans to the consolation title. The 6'5" McLemore averaged nearly 30 points a game and wowed the crowds with 3-point shooting and big-time dunks. He had one breathtaking run of 14 consectuive points which turned around the game in Wellston's victory over Hazelwood East in the consy finals.
Fourth-place Ritter really kept things exciting with close games against Normandy, McCluer North and Chicago Orr. Senior guard Mylin Jordan was whirling dervish all week long with his daring drives to the hoop. A young man to watch in the future is 6'5" small forward Cameron Biedschied, who has a tremendous upside. He scored 25 in the third-place game. By the time he's done, Biedschied could end up being the top college prospect in Marvin Neals' very successful tenure at Cardinal Ritter. The kid has a lot of talent.
Soldan won the fourth-place trophy by defeating Normandy. Coach Justin Tatum has a nice young team that has a chance to make a little noise in Class 4 this year and in the future. Senior guard Brier West and sophomore standouts Partice Sanders, Paul McRoberts and Randy Holmes give the Tigers plenty of young firepower.
Once again, congratulations to the good folks at Normandy for putting on a good tournament.
I'll have more tourney recaps and my thoughts coming up.