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Trinity, McCluer North Repeat Holiday Boys Basketball Tourney Titles
BY JIM WIENERS
Three weeks ago Trinity Catholic High School played the first of two holiday Boys Basketball Tournaments at Lutheran High-St. Charles County, not at home as a Dec. 18, 2008 headline mentions.
Trinity won their second straight Lutheran-SC Cougar Classic by defeating the Lutheran-SC junior varsity team, 61-35, Orchard Farm, 54-44, and North County Tech, 63-44. Head coach Kelly Thames likes what he sees from this team, saying, “I am excited. I really enjoy this team, they are playing as a team,” even though the Titans have only one senior.
Thames said the best practice for the Titans is playing the games. The Titans also “play anybody,” Thames said. “I told the kids ‘just play hard.’”
Unfortunately the Titans did not fare so well a week later in the Mary Institute/Country Day School Holiday Invitational. Trinity, 8-2 prior to Jan. 6, defeated MICDS but lost to Jennings and Whitfield. Thames played prep basketball Jennings, who won the MICDS Holiday Invitational, and Thames high school coach, Randy Carter, is still coaching at Jennings.
Meanwhile McCluer North went to the Southern Illinois town of Carbondale over a week ago and won their second straight Southern Illinois Orthopedic Center Tournament title. The Stars defeated White House, Tenn., 69-35, Christ Presbyterian Academy, 64-56, Carbondale, 94-74, and West Memphis, 74-67. The Stars, 8-0 prior to Jan. 7, has played seven tournament games out of eight overall.
North County Tech is 5-2 and have two second place finishes in two tournaments, the Bank of Old Monroe Tip-Off Classic in Winfield and the Lutheran-SC Cougar Classic. At Lutheran-SC, North Tech, who lost to Trinity in the finals, avenged their loss to Lutheran-SC at Winfield by beating the host Cougars 54-52 after beating Crystal City, 54-49. North Tech coach Victor Jordan says the Golden Eagles are in a learning process and “we’re progressing real well.”
AT THE MERAMEC HOLIDAY FESTIVAL TOURNAMENT Hazelwood Central and McCluer lost to tourney champion St. Charles West over a week ago. Hazelwood Central lost to SC West, 62-54 in the championship game while McCluer lost to SC West, 55-44 in the semifinals.
Hazelwood Central defeated University City, 75-24, Troy Buchanan, 56-44, and Webster Groves, 78-58, while McCluer took the third-place game over Webster Groves, 70-65, after defeating Lindbergh, 78-42 and CBC, 63-53.
ELSEWHERE — Hazelwood East took fifth place in the Normandy Holiday Tournament, McCluer South-Berkeley took consolation honors at Jefferson City, Hazelwood West took eighth in the Chaminade Christmas Tournament and Riverview Gardens took 11th in the Collinsville (Ill.)/Schnucks Holiday Classic.
