Cardinal Ritter survived their toughest test of the year while East St. Louis claimed the Southwestern Conference crown this past weekend on the football field. The Ladue girls’ tennis team saw three of their players earn state titles this past Friday. Plus, the field is set for the MSHSAA softball tournament as many local teams will look to advance to the state final four next weekend.
Cardinal Ritter survived their biggest test of the season with a 26-13 victory over state-ranked Hillsboro this past Friday evening. After playing to a 6-6 tie in the first half, Carson Boyd scored on a 53-yard run to put the Lions on top 12-6. Late in the third quarter, the Hawks took the lead as Peyton Brown found the endzone on a three-yard run to make the score 13-12. Ritter answered early in the fourth quarter as Boyd found Fredrick Moore on a 23-yard scoring pass to give the Lions a 20-13 advantage. Boyd helped extend the lead as he connected with Ryan Boyd on an 11-yard strike to make the score 26-13. Carson Boyd finished the night with 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air and added another 102 yards on the ground to help the Lions remain undefeated on the season. The Hawks were led on the ground by Brown, who had 139 yards rushing while Jaxin Patterson added another 115 rushing yards as the Hawks fell to 7-1 on the year.
East St. Louis outscored Edwardsville 20-7 in the second half to secure a 26-7 victory over the Tigers as they won the SWC title for the seventh consecutive year. TaRyan Martin put the Flyers on the scoreboard on the first play of the second quarter as he found the endzone on a six-yard run to give East St. Louis a 6-0 lead. Martin then extended the lead early in the third quarter with an eight-yard run to put the Flyers ahead 12-0. Edwardsville cut the lead in half just two minutes later as Joey DeMare grabbed a 40-yard pass from Jake Curry to make the score 12-7. Martin then scored his third touchdown of the game on a five-yard run to push the Flyers lead to 18-7. Rico Bond sealed the victory with a five-yard touchdown reception from Robert Battle to make the score 26-7. Martin finished the night with 97 yards on the ground and three scores while Larevious Woods added 130 rushing yards to help East St. Louis improve to 6-2 on the year.
Photo Credit – Missouri State High School Activities Association
At the MSHSAA State Girls’ Tennis singles and doubles tournament, Ladue swept the titles as freshman Angela Chen won the singles portion of the tournament with senior Megan Ouyang and freshman Kayla Chan bringing home the double title in Class 2. Chen was perfect in the tournament, winning all her matches 2-0 to claim the singles title. She defeated Leiloni Payton of Lincoln College Prep in the championship match. Ouyang and Chan were also perfect in the tournament and defeated the doubles team from Grain Valley to grab the doubles crown. In Class 1 at the Cooper Tennis Center in Springfield, Mo., Clayton’s Aanya Singh won the singles title by defeating Emelia Kinder of Ursuline 2-0 while the team of Abby Gaines and Emery Gross from St. Joseph’s Academy defeated the doubles duo of Mikaela Miklulec and Rachel Li 2-0 to earn the Class 3 titles. Parkway South’s Khayli Buckels claimed the Class 3 singles crown with a 2-0 win over Sahana Madala from John Burroughs.
After district play was completed last Friday afternoon, the field is set for the MSHSAA Softball championships. In Class 5, Lindbergh will take on Marquette Wednesday afternoon while Howell North travels to Howell to take on the Vikings. Both games are set to begin at 4 p.m. In Class 4, Washington will look to defend their title from last year as the Blue Jays will take on Cape Notre Dame Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. while Incarnate Word will play Warrenton Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Westminster will play Doniphan Thursday in the Class 3 quarterfinals with Valley Park taking on Russellville Thursday in the Class 2 quarterfinals beginning at 4 p.m.
The MSHSAA Girls’ Golf championships begin Monday as many local teams will look to bring back more trophies. In Class 4 at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club in Joplin, Mo., St. Joe’s will attempt to win their seventh straight title while in Class 3 at Columbia Country Club, Visitation will look to defend their title in a loaded field.
Volleyball districts are slated to begin later this week as Eureka will lead the teams in Class 5 with hopes of competing in the state tournament.
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
