In his 27 years and more than 500 wins, De Soto coach Allen Davis has seen nearly everything. Well, at least that's what he thought.
Friday night when his No. 5 Dragons were upset on the road at Jefferson County Conference foe Festus 60-58, the Tigers' fans rushed the court to celebrate like they'd just knocked off Duke.
"I've never seen that many people rush the floor," Davis said.
It was the second signature win of the week for Festus (12-3), which beat rival Crystal City three days earlier. Friday the Tigers were down by five late in the fourth quarter and rallied back to earn some revenge from when the Dragons socked them 80-48 in Hillsboro's Gene Steighorst Tournament title game the second week of December.
It's the second consecutive time the Tigers have successfully defended their home court against De Soto in a JCC game.
Davis said he has a hard time preparing his team for conference games and the juice the rest of the JCC has for taking out De Soto.
"It's the Super Bowl for them, and it's just another game for us. They get pumped up for it," Davis said. "The kids played lackluster. It's hard to get our kids pumped up about conference games."
Instead, Davis said his team is focused on this week's Ameritime Classic at Missouri Baptist University. The Dragons open at 8:30 p.m. tonight against Parkway South (11-4).
"You prepare them for bigger and better things," Davis said.
De Soto will have its hands full at the Ameritime. Also in the field are No. 4 small school Borgia (16-2) and large-school powers De Smet (12-5, No. 10) and Hazelwood Central (11-4). The Dragons already took a 56-49 loss at Hazelwood Central, and Davis said that was in part because his team wasn't ready to play four quarters.
"We took two quarters off against Hazelwood Central," Davis said. "We're going to have to play smart for 32 minutes."
MAPLEWOOD, BRENTWOOK READY TO RUMBLE AGAIN
Tuesday night Corey Frazier will walk into the gym that has been the most hostile toward him in his 10 years at Maplewood-Richmond Heights. Rival Brentwood brings out the boo birds and venom like no other.
Then again, that's what happens when you dominate a rivalry. Frazier's Blue Devils haven't been the nicest of guests. Over the last five years in South Central Athletic Association play, Maplewood (8-5) is 10-0 against Brentwood (6-5) with an average score of 74-53. Brentwood did upend Maplewood 83-76 in the 2010 district semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Cardinal Ritter in the district title game.
Maplewood is trying to get back on track after taking on No. 1 small school Soldan last week and getting run over 54-41. Getting into conference play often does the trick for the Blue Devils. Over the last four years, Maplewood is 42-0 in SCAA play. That's one of the many reasons Frazier has constructed such a brutal schedule. Aside from Soldan, the Blue Devils played at the Poplar Bluff Christmas Tournament and have dates with No. 10 small school Whitfield, Hazelwood Central, Chaminade and Class 1 powerhouse Scott County Central.
"Our conference isn't as strong as our non-conference games," Frazier said. "We use our conference games to strengthen our team so when we play the Hazelwoods we have a deeper bench."
Tuesday's tip is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
WHITFIELD STUNS ROCK BRIDGE
When Mike Potsou puts together a schedule, it's borderline madness. The coach of No. 10 Whitfield, Potsou will play anyone, anywhere. Big schools, small schools, he's always up for testing his team against the best.
Saturday the Warriors (11-5) went on the road and put a pretty big pelt on the wall. Whitfield scored a 59-58 win over Rock Bridge (15-3) in the inaugural Gary Philbert Classic in Mexico.
"It's a good win for our program," Potsou said. "I was proud of how we competed. We definitely had Rock Bridge on their heels."
Rock Bridge was without standout point guard Travis Jorgenson and Corey Haith (Mizzou coach Frank Haith's son), who sustained a broken hand in practice last week. But the Warriors couldn't do anything about that. They just play the games on the schedule.
And what a schedule it has turned out to be.
Whitfield opened the season in its own tournament with a loss to No. 8 Cardinal Ritter and a win over De Smet. The Warriors have split two games with Class 5 Ladue and dropped a close one to Parkway South. There are still games left with Maplewood-Richmond Heights, No. 4 Borgia, Gibault and Pattonville.
Potsou said there is a method to his scheduling madness.
"You want to have as much variety as possible on the schedule," he said. "When you have a team that's good, you want to put them in adverse conditions. The more frequently they're in those conditions the more comfortable they'll become later in the year."
MATER DEI HITS BRAKES IN REMATCH WITH CENTRAL
Brian Perkes knew something had to change. The Mater Dei coach and his staff studied the game tape of their Christmas tournament showdown with rival Breese Central and wanted to hit the slow-mo button.
Mater Dei was playing much too fast.
The Knights had over 60 possessions that game, and on half of them they either shot the ball after one or no passes.
"We shot the ball way too quick," Perkes said. "We needed to have longer possessions in the offense."
When Mater Dei got a rematch with No. 2 Breese Central (20-1) on Saturday in the title game of the Nashville Tournament, it slowed down the pace considerably.
Breese still squeaked out the 31-25 victory, but Perkes thought the game plan was effective.
"The kids did a great job executing most of the game," Perkes said. "We lost (Brandon) Book in transition a couple of times, and he hit four 3's in the second half. That was the difference in the game."
Saturday's game was the second of a possible four meetings between these two top-notch programs. They have their regular-season showdown set for the second Friday in February at Mater Dei. They also could collide in the regional tournament.
Playing one team four times could wear some folks out. But Perkes said he's OK mixing it up with Breese Central if only because it's a great program.
"I get tired of losing to them," he said wryly. "It's a good rivalry, and it's good for both schools. We know we have to bring our best game to beat those guys, and we hope they feel the same way."
More pressing for the Knights than toppling their rival is finding some consistency in their lineup. Perkes said he's been shuffling things around the past couple of games to try and find the right chemistry. So far he hasn't had much luck, and time is running short.
"I've got a strange feeling about this team," he said. "We should be pretty settled in. A lot of teams are fine-tuning right now. We need to get these questions answered in a hurry."
SMALL SCHOOLS ARE BIG IN COACHES VS. CANCER
Four area small schools will take the big stage Thursday at the Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at the Scottrade Center.
Among the teams participating are No. 1 Soldan (13-3), No. 3 Alton Marquette (20-1), No. 8 Cardinal Ritter (9-4) and bubble team MICDS (11-5).
MICDS takes on Parkway South at 11 a.m., and Marquette draws Chicago suburb Glenbard East (7-8) at 2:15 p.m.
Ritter draws No. 1 large-school Vianney (17-0), which might be without starting point guard Richard Dorhauer, who suffered a wicked ankle injury Friday against Chaminade.
Soldan finishes off the night with an 8:30 p.m. tip against Chicago powerhouse Whitney Young (9-7)
