It happens every year around this time.
The three heavyweight basketball programs of the Suburban North Conference — McCluer North, Hazelwood Central and McCluer — battle each other for the league championship only to have to fight it out again just days or weeks later in the district tournament.
"It's a very interesting district that we have, no doubt about it," Central coach Josh Martin said. "It's very competitive. There's some of that backyard neighborhood kind of brawls, if you will. There's a lot on the line more than a basketball game. There's bragging rights and all that stuff. ... It's something these guys talk about forever, and it's important to them, as it should be."
The Class 5 District 8 tournament, which will be held at McCluer, features three of the state's top teams.
"It's Armageddon, man," McCluer North coach Randy Reed said. "... All three teams are evenly matched. This is the most balanced district as far as those top three teams since I've been there."
Said Martin: "I think three teams have a legitimate shot at not only winning our district but advancing very far in the state playoffs."
No. 1 seed McCluer North (22-1) is the defending Class 5 champion, the No. 1 team in the STLhighschoolsports.com large-schools rankings and has won 20 straight games. The Stars, who won district the past two years as a No. 3 and No. 4 seed, have captured the district title in four of the past five seasons.
No. 2 seed Hazelwood Central (19-6) is ranked eighth among area large schools and has won the district three times in the past eight years.
No. 3 seed McCluer (23-3) is ranked third among area large schools and has won nine straight games and 14 of its last 15 — with the lone loss being a two-point defeat at McCluer North on Jan. 23.
"It's a pretty good stretch," McCluer coach Erwin Claggett said. "The guys have been playing pretty good."
McCluer's last district championship came in 2003 in Kurt Jacob's final season as coach. Claggett took over the following year.
"Since I've been in the district, there have been a lot of other districts with some maneuvering around and different things, and our district kind of stays the same," Claggett said. "It's kind of unfortunate because usually those three teams are somewhere in the tops in the area and the state. We all know if we were in different districts we'd probably meet each other in Columbia every year. That's the bad thing about it. Unfortunately, you're going to have two or three possible state contenders eliminated in one district, but that's just the nature of the beast."
SUBURBAN WEST RIVALS TO FACE OFF
Parkway South coach Mitch Stevens knows its cliché, but when it comes to describing the teams that will compete at the Class 5 District 3 tournament at South it is also appropriate.
"I think there is a lot of parity, and since a lot of these schools are rivals, whether you're in the same conference or not, you can — and I know its a cliché — but you can throw the records out a little bit when these schools are playing each other," he said.
The top-seeded Patriots (20-6, No. 8 large schools) are clearly the favorite in the district after beating second-seeded Lafayette twice to win the Suburban West Conference title. South has won four straight games and 15 of its last 17.
"We couldn't be happier with the way we finished the regular season," Stevens said. "We did kind of keep getting better, and our seniors continued to mature. We've gotten production from our younger kids."
Parkway South has a senior-laden team that remembers what it felt like to lose in the district championship game a year ago. Marquette, the No. 5 seed this year, won the district as a No. 3 seed last season.
Second-seeded Lafayette (17-8), third-seeded Summit (17-8), fourth-seeded Eureka (11-13) and fifth-seeded Marquette (15-10) give this district balance and make it one of the more interesting.
"It's a toss-up," Lafayette coach Scott Allen said. "I think anybody can beat anybody. Very rarely one through six do you see that. ... It's up for grabs. I've never seen anything like it."
MICDS HOSTS INTERESTING CLASS 4 DISTRICT
The most interesting district in Class 4 may be District 6 at MICDS.
Top seed Westminster (21-4) is one of the hotter teams in the area. The Wildcats have won five straight and 12 of their last 13.
Second-seeded University City (17-8) and third-seeded MICDS (15-8) will both do whatever they can to knock off the top seed. Westminster defeated MICDS in a close game, 54-47, on Jan. 20.
