Stars claim district title
Laurie Skrivan/Post-Dispatch | Riverview Gardens' Timothy Williams hauls down a rebound in front of McCluer North's Ollie Roundtree on Saturday.
FLORISSANT — McCluer North was able to shake off its late-season struggles just in time for the Class 5 District 5 basketball tournament.
On Saturday afternoon the fourth-seeded Stars emerged with the district championship trophy after defeating third-seeded Riverview Gardens 52-48 in the title game at McCluer North.
“We never really lost our confidence,” said senior forward Denzel Reed, who scored a game-high 23 points. “We knew we were good. … We were coming out flat (in losses to McCluer, Hazelwood Central and Riverview), so we were falling behind in all of those games early. We knew this is district time, you can’t fall behind, come out sluggish or lackadaisical.”
McCluer North (20-8) will next play Oakville (24-4) in the sectional round at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday at Meramec Community College. Oakville has won 14 consecutive games, but McCluer North and Riverview Gardens both defeated the Tigers earlier this season.
Stars coach Randy Reed said his team’s difficult schedule was good preparation for a district tournament run that included a win over No. 1 seed Hazelwood Central in the semifinals.
“We played people and groomed some of those young kids,” Reed said. “We changed our team a little bit. Now we’re a much better team. That’s how we got out of this district.”
In addition to Reed’s 23 points, which included making all 11 of his free throws, McCluer North got nine points apiece from sophomores Galen Brown and Jordan Granger.
Riverview Gardens (16-11) got 14 points from senior guard Timothy Williams.
McCluer North led 21-17 at halftime and 35-31 after three quarters. The Stars went up by six early in the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-point plays by Granger and Reed and were clutch in the fourth by making seven of eight free throw attempts.
“The free throws were a critical part of the game,” Riverview coach Robert Wallace said. “Who hits their free throws sometimes wins the basketball game. They hit theirs down the stretch. We hit ours, too, but they were up and we were down, so that makes a big difference.”
McCluer North 42, Hazelwood Central 40 — In a girls game, the third-seeded Stars (16-11) upset the top-seeded Hawks (18-8) to win their first district championship since 1999.
McCluer North will next play Cor Jesu (22-4), which has won 12 consecutive games, in the sectional round at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Meramec Community College.
