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BY JIM WIENERS

As area schools are about to take a two-week break for the holidays, with 2008 coming to an end and 2009 starting in two weeks, high school sports teams take time to compete in tournaments.

Thursday-Saturday Lutheran High-St. Charles County will host their pre-Christmas tournament with Trinity Catholic returning to defend their tournament title. North County Tech will also be there after going 0-3 last year.

Friday to approximately Dec. 27, with days off for Christmas, the most prestigious girls basketball tournament, the Academy of the Visitation Christmas Tournament will be played. Incarnate Word Academy, second at Visitation and second in Class Five State last year will be back as will Hazelwood Central, who went 2-2 there. Joining the tournament is McCluer South-Berkeley, who was third in Class Four State last year and was winning their own holiday tournament the last four years in a row.

Last Thursday Incarnate Word edged Hazelwood Central, 49-46, on a three-point buzzer-beater by junior Chloe Nelson. It was the closest margin won by Incarnate over Central since Nov. 24, 2001. Central has yet to beat Incarnate this decade.

Beginning this upcoming Monday and ending around Dec. 30 Mary Institute-Country Day School will host their annual boys tournament featuring a mixture of small and large high schools as well as public and private. Trinity Catholic and Lutheran North will be competing there.

What was once the most prestigious boys holiday tournament and is one of the longest running in St. Louis, if not the longest, the Normandy Tournament begins approximately Monday and ending around Dec. 28. Hazelwood East is the only area school that will be there.

Currently the biggest boys holiday tournament over the last 25-30 years will begin Dec. 26 at St. Louis Community College at Meramec. It is scheduled to end Dec. 31. Hazelwood Central returns to Meramec while McCluer will join the field.

McCluer North boys Basketball, second in Class Five state last year, state champions two years ago, will return to Carbondale, Ill., to defend their tournament title a year ago. McCluer North is coming off winning their second straight Troy-Peoples Bank Tournament title.

Another girls tournament, at Duchesne, is scheduled to be played Dec. 26-31. Hazelwood West and McCluer will be there. We do not have Hazelwood East’s schedule be we assume East may be there, also.

Lutheran North and Riverview Gardens girls teams will be playing at John F. Kennedy, Dec. 27-30. Riverview Gardens boys, consolation winners last week at the Troy-Peoples Bank Tournament, will be in Collinsville, Ill, Dec. 27-30. Hazelwood West boys will be at Chaminade, Dec. 26-31, McCluer North girls will be in Mascoutah, Ill., Dec. 29-31, and McCluer South-Berkeley boys will be in the Milwaukee, Wis. Shootout, Monday-Tuesday, then head to Jefferson City, Dec. 26-29.

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