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Hazelwood Central, IWA Rolled To Girls District Basketball Titles
By Jim Wieners
Hazelwood Central High School and Incarnate Word Academy easily rolled their way to district titles in Girls Basketball.
Hazelwood Central won Class Five, District Two at McCluer North by downing Hazelwood West, 71-44, and Pattonville, 79-52. Incarnate Word had an easier time in Class Four, District Seven as the Red Knights demolished host Fort Zumwalt East, 68-16, and St. Charles High, 61-30.
In Class Five Hazelwood Central played against Jackson March 7 at Jefferson College and the winner plays Saturday, March 10, 1 p.m., against St. Joseph’s Academy or Francis Howell High. In Class Four IWA played March 6 against St. Dominic at Francis Howell Central and the winner plays Saturday, 1 p.m. against Mary Institute-Country Day School or Sullivan at Washington, Mo., High.
Saturday’s winners advance to the State Tournament. It will take place at JQH Arena at Missouri State University in Springfield. Class Five plays March 15-17 while Class Four plays March 16-17.
HAZELWOOD CENTRAL — For the second time in 18 days, Hazelwood Central easily defeated Hazelwood West on Feb. 26. However, the margin in Class Five, District Two, with 17 days off in between for Hazelwood Central, was smaller than the Hawks 76-37 Suburban XII Conference, North Division win at Hazelwood West on Feb. 8. In district play, Hazelwood Central led 40-19 at halftime and the Hawks outscored the Wildcats 31-25 in the second half.
Senior Kourtney White had a game-high 23 points, making nine out of 17 from the field including six out of 10 from inside the three-point arc. Senior Nikayla Hill scored 12 of her 14 points by hitting all four of her three-point shots. Senior Kelsie Williams scored 11 points while Freshman Nariyah Simmons added 10.
The March 1 rout of Pattonville, which was more one-sided than the 51-50 game on Feb. 1, won by the visiting Hawks, assured Hazelwood Central of their first district title since 2014 and their 13th since 1983. White scored 21 points, making seven out of 13 shots and five out of six free throws, while Williams scored 20, making seven out of 13 shots and five out of seven free throws. Hill scored 13 points while Simmons added 12.
INCARNATE WORD ACADEMY was the only team to not play on Feb. 26 and basically put the March 1 game over host Fort Zumwalt East away early with a 25-0 first quarter. It was 42-9 at halftime and 62-12 after three quarters prompting the non-stop clock mercy rule in the fourth quarter in which the Red Knights outscored the Lions 6-4. Junior Marisa Warren made seven out of 10 from the floor and scored 17 points, junior Rickie Woltman added 11 points, Senior Nakayla Jackson-Morris pulled down seven rebounds and sophomore Kate Rolfes had four steals.
The rout of St. Charles High March 3 secured the Red Knights’ ninth consecutive district title. Since 1974, IWA has won 29 District or Regional titles and currently holds the Missouri State High School Activities Association record with nine state titles. Woltman and senior Sonya Morris each scored 14 points while Jackson-Morris added 12.
