If St. Joseph's is going to land its second consecutive berth in the final four, it's going to have to earn it.
The Angels, who are 21-5 and No. 2 in the STLhighschoolsports.com large-schools rankings, will play in one of the tougher districts in the state. If they survive Class 5 District 2 at St. Louis U. High and then the sectional round, where they would likely face Jackson, then the most likely quarterfinals opponent would be rival and two-time state champion Incarnate Word.
"Can you believe that?" Coach Julie Matheny said. "Is that unbelievable or what? At least we're not in the same district as Incarnate like a couple years ago."
Count Matheny among the critics of the current system. As it's set up by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, there's a good chance the No. 2 ranked team (Incarnate) in the statewide coaches poll or No. 3 (St. Joe's) would face No. 1 Rock Bridge in the semifinals March 8. Not surprisingly, that game already is being billed by many as the state championship game.
"Somehow, they've got to get off their (behinds) and seed the top 16 teams," Matheny said. "They don't care about the integrity of the tournament. They just want everybody to have a chance to go. Their defense is they're trying to do it geographically to keep kids in school. These kids would drive 80 miles for a good party."
Matheny and the Angels hope to be celebrating come March 10 after the title game. To get there, however, they know they can't have any hiccups.
There are no cupcakes in their path. St. Joe's will face the winner of tonight's first-round game between Webster Groves and Ladue on Thursday at 5 p.m. That will not be an easy game either way since the Statesmen (17-8, No. 10 large schools) are solid as are the Suburban East Conference champion Rams (20-5).
If the Angels win in the district semifinals, they'll face Nerinx Hall (17-9, No. 7 large schools) or Ursuline (18-7, No. 9 large schools) in the final slated for Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Angels look ready to battle. They recently hammered No. 4 large school Fort Zumwalt West 66-39 on the Jaguars home floor.
"It was the best I've seen us play in a while," Matheny said. "Our defensive intensity kind of generated the whole thing. It got contagious."
Although Incarnate Word (21-6, No. 1 large schools) isn't in a district quite as good as St. Joe's, the Red Knights will have some good competition in District 4 at Parkway Central. Topping the list of formidable foes is Pattonville (21-3, No. 8 large schools), the recently crowned champion of the Suburban North Conference.
Incarnate coach Dan Rolfes isn't taking the Pirates lightly. He's also wary of Parkway North and Hazelwood West.
"They have seniors who have been on the varsity for four years," Rolfes said of Pattonville. "They just won their conference, so I know they come in pretty confident. Parkway North plays a pretty solid schedule. Both of their coaches do a pretty good job. The other night Hazelwood West nearly knocked off Pattonville. So I think the competition is pretty solid."
If the Red Knights can win a district title they likely would face Lafayette in the sectional round. The Lancers upset Incarnate 42-30 in early January.
"Sure, we definitely want to avenge that loss," Rolfes said. "But this time of the year it's more than that. If you lose you go home. More than that, we want to move on and three-peat."
A quarterfinal game between archrivals Incarnate and St. Joe's would make for good theater. The Red Knights have beaten the Angels twice this year, both times by five points.
"I think we're playing pretty good basketball right now," Rolfes said. "We've got our rotation down. When you have injuries, like we did early in the season, it throws your rhythm off."
Incarnate is healthy now. It's won 16 of 18 games despite playing a very tough schedule.
Lafayette, the No. 1 seed in Class 5 District 3, apparently has dodged a bullet. Standout guard Jordynn Martin, who injured her knee in a win over Parkway South last week, most likely will be available for the district tournament.
"We think she's going to be OK," coach Jennifer Porter said. "She's gotten a little better each day."
Kirkwood coach Brad Sutterer thinks the Pioneers, who are the top seed in the Class 5 District 5 Tournament at Fox, have another gear.
"You're never satisfied," he said. "You may be happy at times. But I don't think we've played four full quarters yet. My team fully gets that you have to win every night."
No. 2 seed Cor Jesu, which Kirkwood beat in a district final last year, had the respect of Sutterer even before it upset Nerinx Hall recently.
"Cor Jesu has won 14 or 15 games," Sutterer said. "By no means are we taking them for granted. Cor Jesu plays good defense and is fundamentally sound."
