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…Say ‘Hello Winter Season, 2006-07
BY JIM WIENERS
High Schools now go mainly indoors as the winter sports season is currently underway, if not started before the beginning of December.
Basketball in general and Girls Basketball in particular is the sport mainly in focus but Boys Basketball can not be overlooked. Wrestling can not be ignored but there are no returning state medallists in the Suburban North as well as at McCluer South-Berkeley and Trinity Catholic. Girls Swimming moves their season from spring to winter and their season open Monday and Club Ice Hockey opened the season at the beginning of November.
GIRLS BASKETBALL — Defending Class Five State Champion Incarnate Word Academy has nine letterwinners, including three starters, back from their best season ever (31-1). IWA lost 6-2 Felicia Chester but will have three six-foot players back. Three of IWAs rivals in the MWAA White Division — Nerinx Hall, Ursuline and Visitation — each returns three starters.
Hazelwood East, Fourth in Class Four State last year, has eight letterwinners, including five starters, back from a 26-5 team that will have a pair of players at least six foot tall. East will have a challenge in the Suburban North Conference from Hazelwood Central (21-6) who returns four starters among the six letterwinners and is expected to have at least three players six foot or taller.
McCluer South-Berkeley, a Class Three Quarterfinalist, returns five starters from a 21-5 team but will have challenges from Suburban East Conference rivals Jennings (four starters back) and Clayton (five starters back). Lutheran North returns four starters but three of their MWAA Red Division rivals — Lutheran South, John Burroughs and Mary Institute-Country Day School — each returns four starters.
BOYS BASKETBALL — All Eight Suburban North Conference teams have starters to replace but five of the eight teams will have at least five returning lettermen with Hazelwood West and McCluer North return eight each while McCluer returns seven. In starters McCluer and McCluer North each returns four starters while Hazelwood Central, Hazelwood East, Hazelwood West and Riverview Gardens each have two starters back.
North County Technical returns nearly the entire roster (11 lettermen) including all five starters from last year’s team but the tallest player is six-foot-four. Nonetheless head coach Mike Boyce is optimistic as he told this reporter last year to keep and eye on the Golden Eagles this season.
Kelly Thames, who helped Jennings to a second place finish in the 1993 Class 3A State Tournament, is the new head coach at Trinity Catholic. Meanwhile McCluer South-Berkeley returns five starters.
OTHER SPORTS-Hazelwood Central and Hazelwood West have the only Club Ice Hockey teams; area Girls Swimming teams had no state medallists or consolation finalists last spring and information on returnees in Wrestling, including returning state qualifiers were not available at press time.
