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Hazelwood Central, Incarnate Word Open Visitation Girls Basketball Tourney Early
BY JIM WIENERS
High School Girls Basketball’s most prestigious Christmas Tournament Begins this Saturday with the 33rd Annual Visitation Christmas Tournament.
Hazelwood Central Girls will take on tournament host the Academy of the Visitation at 3:45 while Incarnate Word Academy opens the tournament at 11 a.m. against John Burroughs. First round games are also played on Sunday; the tournament continues Dec. 26 and closes Dec. 29 with the 7:30 championship game.
After winning the Suburban North Conference Tournament Hazelwood Central, 4-0 prior to Monday, won Dec. 5 at Parkway West, 70-42 and, weather permitting, was to play at Webster Groves Monday and at Incarnate Word Wednesday. Four players scored in double figures against Parkway West, including BreAnna McLaughlin, who scored 21points while making 10 out of 13 shots from the field and had nine steals.
Incarnate Word was 7-0 prior to their meeting with Hazelwood Central and went 4-0 Nov. 23-24 in a Quincy, Ill., tournament — defeating Lanphier, 55-31, Marist, 66-45, Morton, 58-34, and John Hope, 47-33. IWA also won at Lincoln Land over Bolingbrook, 56-36, at Blue Valley North, 50-43, and at home over Beaumont, 65-22.
Kayla Person leads the Red Knights in scoring, 76 points (a 12.7 average), and assists, 16, while Danielle Hellickson, who averages 10.7 points per game, leads in rebounds with 22 and shares the lead in steals, 12, with Bianca Beck.
DUCHESNE INVITATIONAL — Hazelwood West (2-3 prior to Thursday) opens the 31st Annual Invitational the day after Christmas (Dec. 26) with a 3 p.m. game against Fort Zumwalt West. Meanwhile defending three-time tournament champion Hazelwood East (2-2 prior to Monday) closes the first day of the tournament at 7:30 against Suburban North rival McCluer (1-4 prior to Tuesday). The tournament also has two former Suburban North teams — Normandy, who plays Troy-Buchanan at 6 p.m., and St. Charles, who plays Gateway Athletic Conference North Division rival and tourney host Duchesne at 4:30
The tournament continues with four games on Dec. 27 and closes Dec. 29 with three games including the championship game at 2 p.m. Hazelwood East tries to tie the Duchesne Invitational record for championships (four) with the now former East St. Louis (Ill.) Lincoln, who did it twice (1980-83, 1989-92).
