A couple of long streaks came to an end this week while the John Burroughs girls’ soccer team won their first conference title since 2006. The area also saw another no-hitter on the diamond and one of our local prep football stars saw his dream come true as he was drafted in the first round of the National Football League draft.
Let’s get caught up with all the action in this week’s edition of the Friday Fast Break.
The St. Louis University High School boys’ volleyball team saw their consecutive set winning streak come to an end to De Smet but bounced back to defeat the Spartans 3-1 Thursday night in a key Metro Catholic Conference contest. The last time that the Jr. Bills lost a set was to De Smet back on May 8, 2019. The Spartans took the first set of the match 25-22, but then saw SLUH win the next three sets 25-16,25-16, and 25-11 to remain undefeated on the year at 18-0. Phillip Bone paced the Jr. Bills attack with 18 kills while George Henken dished out 44 assists in the win.
The Triad girls’ soccer team saw their 39-game winning streak stopped on the soccer pitch as they fell to Waterloo Thursday night 2-0. The Bulldogs scored a goal in each half and saw their defense stand tall as Lexi Stephens earned the shutout in the victory. Payton Ritcher scored the Waterloo goals in the game while Karley Kinzinger and Megan O’Donnell had assists to help the Bulldogs improve to 13-3-1 on the year.
The John Burroughs girls’ soccer team claimed the Metro League title for the first time since 2006 with a 1-0 win over rival MICDS Thursday afternoon. After a scoreless first half, Alice Crowley took a pass from Simran LaBore and found the back of the net to give the Bombers the lead. Lindley Morton had four saves in goal to earn the clean sheet as John Burroughs improved to 7-3 on the year.
On the diamond, Carter Cox tossed a no-hitter as Fort Zumwalt South defeated Liberty 10-0 in five innings Tuesday night to help the Bulldogs improve to 14-5 on the year. Cox was outstanding on the bump with 12 strikeouts in the win while Conner Mendell had three hits and three runs scored with Joey Friedel adding a pair of hits and three runs batted in to pace the Bulldogs.
In water polo action, Parkway West bounced back after losing to SLUH in the last game of the Lindbergh Invite with an 11-9 victory over the Jr. Bills Wednesday night at the Longhorns pool. Kosta Radoman scored five goals while Will Bonnett added four scores to help the Longhorns improve to 21-1 on the year.
Jameson Williams became the latest former prep star to be drafted in the NFL Draft Thursday evening. Williams was the 12th pick in the first round and will join the Detroit Lions to begin his NFL career. The last time a local player was drafted in the first round was back in 2016 when Ezekiel Elliott was the fourth pick in the 2016 draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Williams was a star on both the football field and the track for Cardinal Ritter. He helped the Lions to a runner-up finish in the Class 3 football tournament in 2018 and won the Class 3 400-meter dash and the 300-meter hurdles in both 2018 and 2019. Williams then went to Ohio State for two years and transferred to Alabama last year and aided the Crimson Tide to the SEC Championship before falling to Georgia in the National Championship game. Williams finished his career at Alabama with 79 receptions for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns before injuring his knee in the national title game.
Williams will be one of many St. Louis area prep stars that could be drafted this weekend as former Vianney and Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams, former Eureka, and Michigan running back Hassan Haskins, and former Lutheran North and Alabama A&M quarterback Aqeel Glass are projected to be drafted.
It is going to be a busy weekend on the prep sports scene as we inch closer to district action starting in a few weeks.
The GAC will hold their annual baseball classic this weekend at Lindenwood University with Howell North and St. Charles starting things off Friday. There will be four games on Friday and three games on Saturday. In a feature doubleheader at the Classic, Troy will take on Oak Grove Saturday starting at 10 a.m.
In track and field action, Francis Howell will host their annual meet starting Friday at 4 p.m. with North Point holding their meet Friday at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, many of the area’s top teams will head to Kirkwood for the Dale Collier Invitational.
There is a pair of volleyball tournaments set for Saturday as webster Groves and Lafayette will host tournaments as SLUH and De Smet headline the teams over at Lafayette.
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
