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Hazelwood Central Hoop Teams Top Seeds At McCluer North
By Jim Wieners
Hazelwood Central boys and girls basketball teams are the top seeds in the Class Five, District Five tournaments Feb. 20-27 at McCluer North High School.
Hazelwood Central and McCluer are the top two boys’ seeds while Hazelwood Central and Riverview are the top two girls’ seeds. The top two seeds in each tournament get a first round bye and advance to the semifinals.
Saturday the girls tournament opens with Hazelwood West taking on McCluer at 1 p.m. and the winner advances to play Feb. 23 against Hazelwood Central at 4 p.m. Also Saturday at 2:30 McCluer North plays Hazelwood East and the winner plays Feb. 23 against Riverview at 5:30. The girls’ championship game is Feb. 27 at 2 p.m.
Monday the boys’ tournament opens at 4 p.m. as McCluer North takes on Hazelwood East with the winner playing Feb. 24 against Hazelwood Central at 4 p.m. Also on Monday Riverview plays Hazelwood West at 5: 30 and the winner plays Feb. 24 against McCluer at 5:30. The boys’ championship game is Feb. 27 at 11 a.m.
The District Five winners play the District Six winners March 3 at St. Louis Community College at Meramec (girls at 6 p.m., boys at 7:45). Last year Hazelwood Central was third in Girls State and a Boys State quart-erfinalist.
Hazelwood Central hosted McCluer Feb.16 in key boys’ game for the Suburban North Conference title (results unavailable).
The Boys District Tournament at McCluer North could be wide open even though Hazelwood Central and McCluer are the top teams. However seeds do not matter, according to McCluer head coach Erwin Claggett, in an interview after the Comets’ 63-47 win last Friday at Francis Howell Central in Cottleville. “It’s a bear of a district,” Claggett said and “it’s going to be a slugfest getting out of districts.”
CLASS THREE does not begin until Feb. 27 and three North St. Louis County teams – North County Technical, Trinity Catholic and Lutheran North – will play in District Five at Whitfield, a nine-team tournament that includes Lutheran-St. Charles County, Northwest Academy of Transportation and Law, Orchard Farm, Principia and Winfield. The number eight and number nine seeds (girls and boys pairings to be decided by this Saturday) will likely will play Feb. 27 and the winners to play the top seeds March 1 and/or March 2.
Dates of the district finals will be announced when the seeds and pairings are released and the district winners play the District Six winners March 10 at St Charles West. For up to date information go online a mshsaa.org, click on “Basketball” and either boys or girls click on “District Tournaments,” click on “Class 3” and Click on “District 5.”
North Technical girls are 13-4 prior to Feb. 15 and all for losses prior to Presidents’ Day are to Class Five teams. But Tech also have three wins over Suburban North Conference teams, two over Riverview and one over McCluer North. And Tech has seven juniors to go along with four seniors.
The final picture is districts, according to North Tech head coach George Merritt, a 1986 North Tech graduate. “We have a tough district,” Merritt said about District Five, “one of the toughest in state in Class Three.” Even though it is a junior dominated team Merritt said the ladies “give 100 percent.”
CLASS FIVE – INCARNATE WORD ACADEMY plays at CBC Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. against Normandy or Ritenour. That winner plays St. Joseph’s Academy or Ladue Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. at CBC.
