The De Smet basketball team has a challenging week.
The Spartans host Hazelwood Central on Tuesday, play at Vianney in a Metro Catholic Conference showdown on Friday and then travel to the East Coast to play John Carroll in Bel Air, Md., on Sunday afternoon.
"I think it's a good test," coach Kevin Poelker said. "We want to just go be the best we can be and play good competition and that's exactly what this week is about. It's still about learning. The real season starts in a few weeks. We're just excited to have a good, competitive week ahead of us and continue to challenge ourselves."
De Smet (16-6), the No. 8 team in the STLhighschoolsports.com large-schools rankings, has already played Hazelwood Central (16-5) and Vianney (21-1) this season.
The Spartans split two meetings with seventh-ranked Hazelwood Central (16-5), winning in the semifinals of the Meramec Tournament on Dec. 28 and losing in the championship game of the Ameritime Classic on Jan. 27.
Second-ranked Vianney (21-1) beat host De Smet 64-61 in the final seconds back on Dec. 6. Vianney is 5-0 in league play, but the Spartans (6-1 in conference) could clinch at least a share of the MCC championship with a victory.
Poelker's squad was originally scheduled to play John Carroll (22-5), which is led by 6-foot-6 Loyola (Md.) signee Jarred Jones, as part of a one-day event at George Washington University. After that event fell apart because of the NCAA rule that doesn't permit such events on Division I campuses, the schools worked out an agreement to play anyway.
"We just ended up talking with the John Carroll School and they invited us to play at their place," Poelker said.
De SMET DUO REACH MILESTONES
De Smet's dynamic junior duo of Nolan Berry and Jimmy Barton recently reached two milestones.
Barton, a 5-10 point guard, recently broke the school record for assists, which was 466 set by Bob Keppel in 2000. Barton, who averages 8.9 assists per game, now has 475 and counting.
Berry, a 6-8 forward who has committed to Butler, recently became the 14th player at De Smet to pass the 1,000-point mark. Berry scored 153 points as a freshman, averaging 5.7 per game, then scored 514 as a sophomore when he averaged 18.4 per game and has 393 so far this year. He is averaging 18.7 per game this season.
RED OUT SHOOTOUT RAISES MONEY FOR CHARITY
The first Red Out Shootout, held Saturday at Hazelwood Central, was a success, as the four-game event raised $2,500 for the American Heart Association.
De Smet defeated Parkway South 70-51 in the opening game. Then Vianney topped Washington 68-35. Maplewood-Richmond Heights came back to beat Whitfield in the third game. Then Hazelwood Central overcame a Cardinal Ritter comeback attempt led by Cameron Biedscheid's 39 points to pull out a 64-63 victory.
BELLEVILLE EAST'S HILL GETS ROLLING
Belleville East has struggled at times this season, but the Lancers (13-9) picked up two big wins last week as standout junior guard Malcolm Hill had two big games.
Hill, who has committed to Illinois, had 29 points in a 76-45 win over Althoff on Tuesday and then 35 points in a 74-69 win over East St. Louis on Friday.
The 6-5 swingman is now averaging 22.4 points per game, which is the top mark among players in the Southwestern Conference, and shooting 40 percent from 3-point range (26 of 65) and 86 percent from the free throw line (172 of 200).
TROY AIMS FOR ANOTHER LEAGUE TITLE
With a win at Francis Howell on Friday, Troy will clinch a share of its fourth consecutive GAC South championship.
The Trojans (18-6 overall, 4-0 in league play) are 77-33 overall since the beginning of the 2008-09 season and have won 20 out of 22 conference games in that stretch. Troy shared the league title with Howell in 2009-10 and Holt in 2010-11.
Holt (11-12) and Howell North (7-13) are tied for second in the conference with 3-1 records. Troy defeated Howell North 63-46 on Jan. 20 and concludes its regular season against visiting Holt next Friday.
SUBURBAN WEST RACE HEATS UP
The Suburban West Conference race looks like it is headed for an exciting stretch run.
Parkway South (16-6), Lafayette (13-7) and Lindbergh (12-9) are all 4-0 in league play going into this week with four conference games remaining.
Parkway South will play at Lindbergh on Thursday. Lafayette, which shared the league title with Oakville a year ago, will play Lindbergh and Parkway South next week.
