Webster Groves Classic: Round 1
The first round of the Webster classic was full of excitement! The first couple of games got out of hand pretty early, but the final two games made up for it big time! The Staley Falcons started the day off with a win over the Sumner Bulldogs. Northwest Academy Hornets beat up on the Normandy Vikings. The Hosting team Webster Groves Statesmen had to fight off a tough Maplewood Blue Devils team. Lee’s Summit North pulled out the final win of the night over the Soldan Tigers. It was quite weird how similar the first two games were and how similar the last two were.
Staley beats Sumner 72-34
Staley was just too much for Sumner from the very beginning. Staley started the game off with a tough press that Sumner struggled so much with, and that led to many fast break opportunities and points. Nick Rumbo is one of Staley’s sharp shooters and gets great elevation on his jump shot. He he was able to knock down 3 from deep in the first half and finish the half with 15 points. Sophomore forward Byron Alexander was a beast in the paint and ran the floor really well. He was able to get great looks due to the great ball movement in half court sets. He finished the half with 14 points. Bennett Holloway was able to get the momentum swung in Staley’s favor early with a steal and a huge Dunk. The second half didn’t get much better, and Staley will now play at 8:30 Friday night.
Northwest Academy beats Normandy 67-41
Like Staley, Northwest Academy was able to apply some pressure to Normandy, and they also had a lot of trouble breaking it which led to plenty of turnovers and fast break points. Northwest Academy was in total control of the game from the start and was able to take a comfortable 30 point lead into the 4th quarter. 6’7″ big man Jamarr Williams was really too much to handle for the Vikings. He was able to impose his size on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. He had plenty of blocked shots, rebounds, and he ended the night with a solid 22 points. Joining him in double figures was guard Willshon Warren with 10 points, and Antouine Redmon with 10 points off the bench. Normandy had one guy in double figures and that was Junior guard Arihus Coleman with 11 points off the bench. Northwest Academy will play Staley on Friday night for a slot in the championship game.
Webster Groves beats Maplewood 74-62
Webster Groves was able to survive a little scare on Thursday night in their home gym against a very tough Maplewood squad. The 12 point win does not do justice on how close and good this game really was. Early on in the first half, we thought it might end up like the first two games. Webster Groves was able to get up by 20 points in the second quarter on a hot start from “Sugar” Ray Adams who buried all 5 tres that he shot in the first half. He was able to hit one more 3 in the second half putting him at 18 points. Webster Groves went into the half with a 16 point lead, and it looked to be smooth sailing from the reigning state champs. Well, that changed quick. Maplewood was able to fight back in the 3rd period and tie the score at 40. They were then able to take the lead in the 4th quarter 54-53. Senior Ricky Guynn and Nate Grady-Liska were 2 big reasons why! Knocking down a few shots early in the second half really built their confidence, and shots just began falling. Guynn ended the game with 21 points. Grady-Liska had a game high 22 points. Will Brunson was also able to get going and hit a few big shots in the second half. He ended the game with 9 points. Although the State Champs were without star Courtney Ramey, they weren’t going to lay down and give up. All-American Big Man Carte’Are Gordon helped fuel the final push for the Statemen. He ended the game with 18 points, but more importantly, he was a big body and that affected shots, grabbed big rebounds, and got his hands on passes which caused crucial turnovers. Guard R.J. Wright reached double figures as well, finishing with 12 points. Junior Stevie Wright was huge for the Statesmen off the bench with 11 points. Webster Groves will play Friday night at 5:00.
Lee’s Summit North beats Soldan 77-69
The Lee’s Summit North and Soldan game was probably the most exciting game of the night, and I believe that most expected it to be quite competitive. Lee’s Summit North did exactly what Webster Groves did, they got out to a 20 point lead in the first half, but a loss of momentum near half time brought the Soldan Tigers back in it. Logan Jenkins started off hot for the Broncos hitting his first two 3’s of the night. He was big down the stretch with needed buckets and free throws. He finished with 18 points. Javaunte Hawkins was a big reason the Broncos were able to get to that 20 point lead in the first half. He was very hot and had 20 points to himself by halftime. He also had some big buckets down the stretch and finished with a game high 31 points! Taking a 13 point lead into the half, you just knew that Soldan had to make a push at sometime, and they did more than that. They were able to tie the game up late in the 4th quarter. This was a great team effort, they hit big shots, got huge turnovers in crunch time, and capitalized on all of the mistakes the Broncos were making. The intensity and pressure defense was a huge reason for the quick turnaround. James Little scored a lot of big points that kept the game within reaching distance, and he was able to get to the line a lot. He ended the night with 24 points and 10 of them from the charity stripe. Although he was the only one to reach double figures for the Tigers, they had 4 other players that had between 6 and 9 points. Jesse Little off the bench finished with 9 points, big man Tyon Hughes finished with 8 points, and guard Marlon Pratt finished with 8 points. Sophomore big man Elijah Bishop ran into a bit of foul trouble which proved to be big down the stretch. He finished the game with 8 points. Senior big man Elijah Farr for the Broncos also found himself in foul trouble which caused him to miss a lot of the game. At times, he looked unstoppable with some strong left handed finishes. He finished the game with 12 points. The Broncos will play Webster Groves Friday night to see who gets the first bid to the Championship game.