Five Good Guys (Thursday Night Championship Standouts)
Thursday night was the first night that district championship games were held at the Classes 4 and 5 levels. Today’s “Five Good Guys” installment features five standouts from those championship games.
Tyem Freeman 6’6″ Parkview: The 2019 standout forward led the Vikings to a pair of big upsets to win the Class 5, District 11 championship as the No. 4 seed. In Thursday night’s championship game, Freeman scored 26 points in an 86-78 victory over No. 2 seed Glendale. That was a follow-up from his 30-point outburst against No. 1 seed Ozark in a 76-74 victory on Tuesday night. That talented uber-athlete put on quite a show in leading Parkview to its first district crown in 28 years.
Fred Thatch, Jr. 6’3″ Sikeston: The Saint Louis University signee scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Bulldogs past Cape Girardeau Central 47-46 in the Class 4, District 1 championship game. Thatch also grabbed five rebounds and made five 3-pointers on the evening. He made four key free throws down the stretch to help the Bulldogs avoid the upset from its conference rivals.
Yuri Collins 5’11” St. Mary’s: The 2019 point guard scored 19 points to lead the Dragons to a convincing 91-64 victory over Confluence Academy in the Class 1, District 3 championship game. Collins did most of his damage in the first half as he scored 15 points to stake the Dragons to a 43-32 halftime lead. He was tough when attacking the basket and in the transition game.
Isiaih Mosley 6’6″ Rock Bridge: The 2019 standout wing scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Bruins to a 79-71 victory over Blue Springs South in the Class 5, District 9 championship game. Mosley has been terrific all season with scoring from all three levels and last night’s performance was the latest example.
Alex Smith 6’3″ Battle: The 2018 wing scored a team-high 24 points to lead the Spartans to a 72-68 victory over host Wentzville Holt in the Class 5, District 7 championship game. His bucket early in the overtime gave Battle the lead to stay at 66-64. He also sealed the victory and the championship a couple of free throws down the stretch.