More state championship hardware was brought back to the metro area by the local girls’ golf teams this week while the field for the Missouri State High School Activities Association is set for next week’s final four. Plus, it is the final week of the regular season for football as many games will dictate how the district seeding will be set up this weekend.

Time to get all the scoop in this week’s edition of the Friday Fast Break!

St. Joseph’s Academy ran away from the field in the MSHSAA Class 4 state golf championships by claiming their seventh consecutive title by shooting a two-day score of 640. This was 59 strokes better than Blue Springs South, who finished with a score of 699. Francis Howell joined the podium with a score of 710 to finish fourth in the tournament. Rylie Andrews led the Angels by tying for second in the individual race with a score of 152 while Karen Lenox earned sixth place with a score of 157.

Photo Credit – St. Joseph’s Academy

 

In the Class 3 championships, Visitation grabbed the runner-up slot with a score of 689, which was just two strokes behind the eventual winner Glendale who won the title with a score of 687. St. Dominic earned fourth place in the championship with a score of 726. Evangelina Brown from Mehlville finished in second place in the individual chase with a score of 155 while Kylie Secrest of Parkway West earned fourth with a score of 164. Ava Sanford led Viz with a score of 167 to place sixth with Grace Fagan and Avery Mclaughlin tied for eighth in the championship with scores of 170.

In Class 2, Westminster Christian Academy earned second place in the team standings with a score of 743 behind Osage, who won the title with a score of 726. Incarnate Word earned the fourth spot in the championship with a score of 764. Morgan Dwyer of IWA led the locals with an eighth-place finish by shooting 171 with Ryan Harper of Villa Duchesne placing 11th with a score of 174. Caroline Domyan and Sophia Nall led the Wildcats by pacing 12th with scores of 178.

On the diamond, the field for the MSHSAA state semifinals was set the week as many of the top teams will make their way to Killian Softball Complex in Springfield, Mo., next weekend.

In Class 5, Howell used a dominating pitching performance from Lorin Boutte en route to an 11-0 win over Howell North. The junior pitcher tossed a no-hitter and allowed only three base runners in the win. In the other local quarterfinal, Natalie Cox ripped a home run in the fourth inning to lead Marquette to a 1-0 win over Lindbergh in a classic pitcher dual with saw both teams garner only four hits apiece. The Mustangs will take on Blue Springs South while the Vikings will play Liberty in the semifinals next Thursday, Oct. 27, with both games starting at 1 p.m.

In the Class 4 quarterfinals, Washington kept the hopes of defending their title alive as the Blue Jays defeated Cape Notre Dame 7-2 to advance to the semifinals. Washington pulled out to a 4-1 lead after three innings and never looked back as Taylor Brown tossed a no-hitter while striking out 13 batters. Incarnate Word saw their season come to an end as Warrenton beat the Red Knights 2-1 in the other local quarterfinal. IWA took a 1-0 lead after six frames, but Warrenton plated a pair of runs in the home half of the seventh to move on to the semifinals.

The Blue Jays will take on Helias while Warrenton will play Kearney Thursday at noon in the semifinals.

Westminster kept their outstanding season alive as the Wildcats defeated Doniphan 1-0 to move on to the Class 3 semifinals. Westminster scored the run that they needed in the fifth innings as Jadyn Patton drove in Julie Martin to give the Wildcats the lead. Gabby Merrifield was outstanding in the circle as she threw a one-hitter while striking out seven batters. Westminster will take on Fatima in the semifinals Friday, Oct. 28, at noon.

District volleyball action is in full swing as all the semifinals will be set after action on Saturday. In Class 5, Eureka won their first-round match with a 3-0 win over Parkway South and will play Cor Jesu, who defeated Lindbergh 3-1 in another early-round match Monday. In Class 4 at Clayton, the top four seeds all swept their opponents Thursday night as top seed Clayton will play No. 4 seed Rosati-Kain Saturday at 2 p.m. while second seed Incarnate Word will take on No.3 seed Ladue at 4 p.m. Also in Class 4, Westminster moved on to the district semifinal with a 3-0 win over Summit while No. 2 seed Parkway West defeated Washington 3-0 to advance as well.

There are many football games this weekend that will help decide district seeding as MSHSAA will announce the pairing Saturday evening. On the Illinois side, many teams that have qualified for the state tournament will look to improve their possible seeds with some outstanding matchups over the next two days. The IHSA will announce their field Saturday at 8 p.m.

We will have all of the tournament details in our Monday Morning Wrap-up next week.

 

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