The post-holiday basketball schedule was jammed packed this week and the weekend will be no different as two tournaments crown champions while one of the biggest shootouts in the area takes place Saturday. We also saw one of the top girls’ players in the metro area joins the elite 1,000-point club this past Wednesday.

Let’s prepare for all the action in this week’s Friday Fast Break.

After finishing second at the Visitation Holiday Classic last week, John Burroughs is set to defend their tournament title Friday night against Visitation. The Bombers won their semifinal contest over Orchard Farm 67-20 Wednesday evening to improve to 12-2 on the year. Junior Allie Turner paced the Bombers with 24 points while Monet Witherspoon added 11 markers in the win. With those points, Turner joined the elite 1,000-point club. She is 12th in the metro area in scoring with 18.0 points per game. In the other semifinal, the Vivettes moved to 9-3 on the year with a 62-43 win over Fort Zumwalt East. Annie Restovich led the Visitation offensive attack with 22 points while Avery Jacoby chipped in with 12 markers. The two teams will play for the title Friday at 7 p.m.

Lutheran South Girls Basketball. Photo Credit – Norm Stewart Classic

Lutheran South and Union will match up in the final of the Lancers’ Classic Saturday afternoon after wins in the semifinals Thursday evening.

The host Lancers broke open a tight game at the end of the first quarter by outscoring Webster Groves 23-9 to grab a 30-15 advantage at the break. Lutheran South put the game in cruise control in the second half to move on to the title game. Savannah Butterfield paced the Lancers with 21 points while Ellie Buscher added a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards to push Lutheran South to the championship contest. In the other semifinal, Union outlasted Fort Zumwalt West 40-38 to advance to the title game.

On the boys’ side on the hardwood, Kirkwood continued their early season success with a 59-42 win over upstart Lafayette this past Tuesday. The Pioneers grabbed an 8-3 lead after the first quarter over the Coaches vs Cancer title holders and extended the advantage to 22-11 at the half en route to the win. Christian Hughes led the way for the MICDS Holiday Classic winners with 24 points as Kirkwood remained undefeated at 9-0.

Saturday will see many of the top teams in both Missouri and Illinois will head to Highland High School to take part in the Highland Optimist Scott Credit Union Shootout. The girls will kick off the event at 8 a.m. as Waterloo will take on Highland. The Highland boys will then hit the court in the next contest at 9:30 a.m. as the Bulldogs will play Quincy Notre Dame. Highland is paced by two of the top players in the metro area as Cade Altadonna and Jake Ottensmeier lead the way for the Bulldogs.

Belleville East will play Hillcrest at 11 a.m. with Akron commit Darrion Baker and SIU Edwardsville commit Jordan Pickett pacing the Lancers this season. At 2 p.m., East St. Louis plays one of the top teams in the state of Missouri as Staley makes the trip over from the western side of the state. The Flyers have a pair of players that have committed as Macaleab Rich will attend Kansas State and Antwan Robinson will head to Cal State next season. 

In the 3:30 p.m. contest, CBC will take on Sacred Heart Griffin as juniors Nassir Binion and Anthony Gause will pace the defending Class 6 Missouri State Champions. Chaminade will hit the floor at 5:15 p.m. as the Red Devils will take on St. Rita out of Chicago. Senior BJ Ward is the leader for the Red Devils as he has committed to Southeast Missouri while Nilivan Daniels is fielding offers from many schools. In the feature game at 8:30 p.m., Missouri Class 4 defending champions Vashon will square off against Moline. The Wolverines are led by Southern Illinois commit Kennard Davis with Jayden Nicholson and sophomore Nick Randall getting offers from all over the country.

Tickets are still available for the event at the following link – Click here

 

Jim Powers

Jim Powers

Jim Powers has been covering prep sports in the St. Louis area for 15+ years and a part of the Missouri State High School Activities Association Championship Broadcasts for the past 11 years. Powers is also a part of the Fox 2 Verlo Mattress Prep Zone Friday nights at 10:10 during the football and basketball seasons. If you have a prep sports story, please contact Jim at japowers2421@yahoo.com. Follow Jim at @hssportscaravan