Attention, Missouri Class 4 -- the Miller Career girls basketball team is good. Real good.
The Phoenix has raced out to a 12-3 record and scored a pair of very impressive wins on consecutive days at the St. Louis MLK Showcase at North Tech.
On Sunday, Miller Career knocked one of the top Missouri Class 5 teams in Blue Springs (a final four team a year ago) and took that one step further Monday by rebounding from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat one of the top teams in the nation in Memphis Central, which is ranked No. 14 by ESPN.
For more on the Phoenix and other area small-schools girls basketball tidbits, check out Scott Fitzgerald's latest notebook.
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1,999
Long a bastion of winning games on the hardwood, the Collinsville boys basketball program had slipped into a bit of a victory slump.
But the arrival of coach Darin Lee after his long successful tenure at Nashville produced 35 wins in his first two seasons and has led to a breakthrough campaign this winter.
The Kahoks currently sit at 17-2, which puts the Collinsville program at 1,999 wins all-time. A victory by the Kahoks, ranked third in the STLhighschoolsports.com large-schools rankings, over No. 5 McCluer on Friday in the Belleville East Round Robin would be No. 2,000.
For more on area large-schools boys basketball, check out Nate Latsch's latest notebook.
HOT HOLT
Another team on the upswing is the Holt girls squad.
The Indians went just 11-42 over the last two seasons, but has already matched that win total this season with an 11-5 mark.
Senior center Brianne Rigg has stepped her game up big with a team-high 16 points and team-high 10.6 rebounds per game and has had several teammates also improve their game.
For more news and notes from area large-schools girls basketball, check out Mike Elder's latest notebook.
A RETURN TO GLORY?
North County was once a longtime hotbed of wrestling, but that bed is getting ice cold.
The area had a nearly five-decade dominance on the mat, but has fallen on hard times since its last state title some 16 years ago.
But North County seems to be on the upswing, thanks in no small part to some of the offspring of yesteryear's coaching legends, and the hope is that resurgence could maybe lead to another state title sometime in the not-too-distant future.
For all things wrestling, check out this latest notebook from Dennis Barnidge and Joe Lyons.
WEDNESDAY REWIND
• Longtime friends Corey Frazier and Justin Tatum made a friendly wager before their boys basketball teams met in a non-conference game. And it was Frazier who had to pay up by wearing a Soldan gold shirt after his Maplewood-Richmond Heights team lost to the No. 1 small-school Tigers.
• With a Yale recruiter on hand to watch her play, Whitfield's Stephanie Anderson didn't disappoint with a career-high 30 points in her team's 67-46 rout of visiting Jennings.
• Mater Dei and Gibault won their way into the Nashville Invitational boys tournament semifinals with quarterfinal victories.
• The return of Jordan Martin has been a boon for the Hazelwood Central boys hoops team, as it stretched its winning streak to five games with a 62-60 win at CBC.
• Tied at 20, the Alton wrestling team won the next five matches by pin or by forfeit to cruise to a 50-26 win over host Triad.
• The Webster Groves boys basketball team will put its amazing 74-game Suburban South Conference win streak on the line Friday against a pretty darn good University City team that is more than capable of ending the streak. The Statesmen, though, didn't look past their game Wednesday in pounding visiting SLUH 70-48.
ON THE TOWN, THURSDAY STYLE
Readers can come back to the site late Thursday to catch up on all the game action. Here's what we're covering.
• The second championship ticket will be punched at the Highland girls basketball tournament when small-schools powerhouses hit the court, as No. 2 Nashville (19-1) squares off against No. 1 Mater Dei (20-0) in a semifinal contest to find out who will play No. 3 large-school Edwardsville in the final Saturday. The Hornettes' only loss this came courtesy of the Knights three weeks ago. Tip-off is 8.
• MICDS (12-2, No. 7 SS) will put its five-game winning streak on the line when it plays host to Visitation (8-8) at 6.
• It's GAC North vs. GAC South when Fort Zumwalt North (6-6) pays a visit to Fort Zumwalt West (6-11) in boys basketball action at 6:30.
• O'Fallon (9-6, 6-3) will look to make it a regular season girls hoops sweep over Belleville East (12-6, 6-3), which owns a seven-game win streak, in a Southwestern Conference girls battle for sole possession of third place. Tip-off is 7:30.
• A pair of GAC girls swimming and diving heavyweights battle it out when Fort Zumwalt West takes on Francis Howell in an 8:30 dual match at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.
• Webster Groves (10-5) has won five of six and will welcome Oakville (4-9) in a non-conference girls hoops battle at 7.
• Duchesne (9-7, 2-2) travels right down the street (Elm) and turns the corner (Kingshighway) to visit GAC North neighbor St. Charles (11-5, 2-0) in girls basketball action at 6:30.
THE VIEW FROM ELSEWHERE
• A pair of brothers matched wits when the Drew Church-coached Cape Central Tigers met up with the Dane Church-coached Saxony Lutheran Crusaders on the boys basketball hardwood. And as Kevin Winters Morriss of SEMOball.com shows us, it was Drew (with a little help from dad and assistant coach, Mark Church) and his Tigers that prevailed 64-34.
• Ozark has a relatively new swimming and diving program and Ivy Rasey is even newer to the sport. But, as the Springfield News-Leader's Chris Basnett reports, Rasey has quickly taken to swimming and found some initial success.
• For the second time this season, the Missouri Mavericks' Charlie Effinger has been named the Central Hockey League Goaltender of the Week. Why, you ask, would we tell you about that here? Well, because Effinger is a hometown boy. The Belleville native played Mid-States Club Hockey for coach Charlie Busenhart and the SLUH Junior Billikens a few years ago.
