Once again, the St. Louis area showed that the balance of power in the large school classes remains on the eastern side of the state as the metro area claimed five out of six state titles this past weekend at the 2023 MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown in Springfield, Mo.
Vashon got things started in the right direction as both their boys’ and girls’ teams won state titles Friday afternoon. The boys’ won their 14th state title and their sixth crown in eight seasons with a 64-37 victory over Park Hills Central. The Wolverines took control of the matchup from the onset as they raced out to an 18-7 lead after the first period and extended the advantage to 33-22 at the break. Vashon then turned to their defense as they outscored the Rebels 31-15 in the second half to claim the title. Trey Williams Jr., and Dierre Hill Jr., paced the Wolverines with 12 points each while Cameron Stovall added 10 markers to help Vashon complete their season with a 24-7 record.
On the girls’ side in Class 4, Vashon needed to battle back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime as the Wolverines defeated Benton 79-77 in double overtime to claim their first state title in school history. Vashon took an 18-14 lead after one-quarter of play and extended the advantage to 26-21 at the half. Benton came out of the halftime locker room and opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run to put the Cardinals ahead 40-38 at the end of the quarter. The Cardinals extended the lead to 55-44 midway thru the final stanza before the Wolverines finished the final four minutes of regulation by outscoring Benton 15-5 to force the first overtime tied at 59-59. After both teams scored six points each in the first extra session, Vashon controlled the second overtime period to come away with the win. Jayla Bush and Raychel Jones each scored 24 points while Chantrel Clayton added 18 points to propel Vashon to the win.
Photo Credit – Missouri State High School Activities Association
It was an all-St. Louis final in the Class 5 boys’ final four as Cardinal Ritter won their third state title in four years with a 65-54 victory over Ladue.
In the first semifinal, the Lions needed to overcome an eight-point deficit after three quarters to defeat Pembroke Hill 58-54. After Cardinal Ritter took a 16-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Raiders outscored the Lions 32-28 over the next two periods to gain a 42-34 lead at the end of three periods. The Lions took control of the contest in the final stanza by scoring 24 points to earn the hard-fought victory. Donovan Meads and Nashawn Davis each scored 15 points with Derrick Rivers adding 14 more points to help the Lions advance to the final.
In the second semifinal contest, Ladue raced out to an early 10-point lead and did not look back as the Rams beat Jefferson City 69-56. Ladue took an early 18-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and was able to maintain the advantage the rest of the way as Dwayne Foley Jr., led the way for the Rams with 23 points while Jack Steinbach chipped in with 17 markers in the win.
In the championship game, the Lions grabbed control of the game in the first half by 26-15 lead after the first two-quarters of the contest. The two teams then played the final 16 minutes on even terms as the Lions won their 10th state crown. Rivers led the Lions in scoring with 17 points while Davis added 16 markers with Clayton Jackson chipped with 10 points to help the Lions finish the year with a 28-4 record. Steinbach led the Ladue attack with 16 points while Haydan Arnold added nine points in the loss as the Rams finished the season with a 26-6 mark.
The Lutheran St. Charles girls won their second state final as the Cougars knocked off Carl Junction 44-39 in the title game.
The Cougars advanced to the championship game with a 71-50 victory over the defending state champions West Plains in the semifinals. Lutheran St. Charles took control of the contest early as they raced out to an 18-12 lead and then pushed the advantage to 42-22 at the break. The Zizzers cut into the lead in the third quarter before the Cougars put the game away in the final stanza by outscoring West Plains 19-11 to move on to the state title game. Jordan Speiser led a quartet of Cougars in double figures with 29 points while Aly Auringer and Chloe Reed added 12 points with Kyril Franklin chipping in with 10 markers to push Lutheran St. Charles to the final.
In the state title game, the first half was all about defense as Carl Junction led the Cougars 15-13 at the half. Lutheran St. Charles got their offense going in the third quarter as they took a 28-25 lead into the final period. That is all that the Cougars would need as they were able to hold off a Carl Junction comeback in the fourth quarter to claim their first state title since 2000. Megan Aulbert had a double-double in the contest with 11 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Cougars as they finished the year with a 27-5 record.
In Class 6 boys’ action, Troy Buchanan earned the third-place trophy this past weekend as they fell to Kickapoo in the semifinals 53-33 and then bounced back to defeat Jackson 40-32.
In the semifinals, Kickapoo grabbed an early 9-2 lead after the first period and continued to lead the Trojans 21-14 at the break. The Chiefs used their defense to take control of the contest as they held Troy to only 19 points in the second half to earn the win. Charlie Nett paced the Trojans with 16 points in the loss.
In the third-place contest, the Trojans used a huge fourth quarter to claim the third-place trophy. After Jackson took a 27-21 after three quarters, Troy outscored the Indians 19-5 in the final stanza to claim the victory. Nett finished the day with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Andrew Moore chipped in with 11 points as the Trojans finished the year with a 25-6 record.
In Class 6 girls’ action, Incarnate Word extended their winning streak to 100 games as the Red Knights won their 13th state title and sixth consecutive title with a pair of wins this past weekend.
The Red Knights opened the semifinals with a 67-29 win over Raytown. IWA took a 43-17 advantage to the halftime locker room and did not look back in the second half as they outscored Raytown 24-12 in the final 16 minutes to advance to the title game. Navaeh Caffey led IWA with 18 points while Natalie Potts chipped in with 16 markers to help the Red Knights to the final.
In the state title contest, IWA met up with a familiar foe as the Red Knights defeated Rock Bridge 57-30 to win the crown. IWA used their full-court pressure to earn a 28-13 advantage at the break and extended it to 44-23 at the end of the third quarter as they never looked back in the final eight minutes to garner the win. Kaylynn Janes paced the Red Knights with 19 points with Potts adding 17 markers and nine rebounds as IWA finished the season with a perfect 32-0 record.
Eureka dropped a pair of games this past weekend to earn fourth place in the Class 6 tournament as the Wildcats fell to Rock Bridge 50-33 in the semifinals and then dropped a 67-53 decision to Raytown.
In the semifinals, the Wildcats raced out to a 20-17 lead over the Bruins at the half only to see Rock Bridge outscore Eureka 33-13 in the final two quarters to gain the win. Maison Smith led the Wildcat scorers with seven points while Kori Robinson added six points in the loss.
In the third-place matchup, Raytown broke open a close game in the second half to earn the third-place trophy. The Wildcats trailed Raytown 26-25 at the break and saw Lady Jays outscore Eureka 41-28 in the final two quarters to earn the win. Natalie Harty led all scorers with 25 points in the loss as Eureka finished the season with a record of 23-8.
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
