Holiday hoops awards
I for one am ready for the holidays to end and the return of normalcy to arrive.
The new St. Louis Sports Agency has been in holiday tournament overload for the past week. We hope you find our new website informative and easy to navigate. It’s not just the reporters and photographers that make it happen; there are many working behind the scenes that made this transition possible.
So before I leave the office to indulge is some New Years Eve festivities, I’ve compiled a short list of holiday hoops awards involving St. Charles County teams.
Best overall team performance: Fort Zumwalt South boys basketball team
As reported by Journal/Agency writer Jim Faasen, Zumwalt South ended the championship game of the 16th annual St. Dominic/Pepsi Christmas Basketball Tournament on a 12-0 run to capture its fifth straight tournament title.
Consider it a coming-out party for the Bulldogs, who after a 2-5 start to the season have won five straight games and are 7-5 heading into 2010.
Best overall individual performance: Julie Hlinak, junior, Fort Zumwalt South girls basketball team
Hlinak emerged as a true cornerstone player last year and is leading the Bulldogs to their best season since the graduation of standout athlete Ashley Runion. She’s as dangerous on the perimeter as she is in the lane and led the Bulldogs to a Summit tournament title Wednesday with a 66-52 win over GAC South foe Francis Howell North.
As an honorable mention in this slot, Zumwalt South senior Lexie Cartee may be one of the best transition players in the area.
Grittiest performance: Brandon Graham, senior, Fort Zumwalt West boys basketball team
Graham dislocated the pinky of his non-shooting hand in the first quarter of Zumwalt West’s Meramec tourney opener against McCluer on Sunday. But Graham, jammed finger and all, was back in the game before the end of the quarter and posted a team-high 13 points in the losing effort. The Jaguars (5-4) went on to lose their next game, 63-60, against St. Charles West.
Clutch performance: Jeremy Percy, senior, St. Charles West boys basketball team
Trailing by three points with time winding down, Percy drew a foul as he was attempting a 3-point shot in the Warriors’ Meramec tourney opener against Vianney. Vianney coach Kevin Walsh tried to ‘ice’ the shooter by calling timeout before each foul shot. But Percy calmly made all three free throws to send the game in overtime, where the Warriors lost 59-55.
Upstart team: Duchesne girls basketball team
The Pioneers have endured their worst start to a season in years. All it took for them to get back on track was the start of the 33rd annual Duchesne Invitational, where they upset two higher seeds in Hazelwood East (No. 3) and McCluer (No. 1) for the right to play Hazelwood West in today’s championship.
Sports Editor Russ Korando will bring you championship coverage from Duchesne later today at STLhighschoolsports.com and in Wednesday’s St. Charles Journal.
Also deserving mention is the Zumwalt West girls basketball team, which had a great showing in its first appearance at the Visitation tournament, and the St. Dominic girls basketball team, which easily won the girls side of the St. Dominic Christmas Tournament.
The Jaguars (9-1) lost their first game of the season to eventual champion Incarnate Word in the Visitation semifinals but responded with a 39-32 third-place win over Hazelwood Central, the same team that ousted the Jaguars in last year’s state quarterfinals.
I believe George Cater was actually the one who stole the inbound and scored the 2 points in the Fort Zumwalt South championship game. By the way, one of the most exciting games of the year.
I had a chance to see many of the games over the holidays. The Zumwalt South vs. Holt at St. Dominic was the most exciting. The story I read in the paper was not what happened in the end however. The drama unfolded as the game came to the last 45 seconds. South trailed the whole game but George Cater scored a very tough layup almost a hook shot off the glass to tie the game. The next play he stole the inbound pass and layed it up another tough play to put South up by 2. They kept Holt from scoring and in the last 5 seconds, Fred Ford hit a 3 pointer to end the game with South up by 5. Well coached but Cater scored in the clutch moments which helped them come from behind and win the game. I saw the St. Charles West gave against Vianney and Jeremy Percy did a great job hitting 3 critical free throws but Caters performance in the last seconds of the game was way bigger and much more difficult. This is without a doubt the best game over all the boys games that I saw.