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Sports

McCluer North Boys, Hazelwood Central Girls One Win From Columbia

In its opening game in the Class 5 State Tournament, McCluer North defeated Central-Cape Girardeau, 63-51.

As rough as ’s 76-58 loss to Chaminade on national television was, the Stars can now take solace in the fact they have earned the ultimate revenge opportunity.

In its opening game in the Class 5 State Tournament, McCluer North defeated Central-Cape Girardeau on Wednesday night in sectional play, 63-51. Senior guard B.J. Young scored 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting, including five  3-pointers.

McCluer North now gets another shot at Chaminade in the state quarterfinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The winner will play at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. in the Class 5 state semifinals next Friday at 3:20 p.m.

The Stars (26-4) have won five consecutive games since that loss on Feb. 12 to Chaminade (27-0) at Lindenwood University. They were a No. 3 seed in the Class 5 District 2 Tournament, but breezed by each of its three opponents, including a 60-44 victory on Feb. 26 over Hazelwood Central in the district championship game.

It has been a streaky season for head coach Randy Reed’s Stars. They were 19-0 at one point before dropping four out of six games prior to their current five-game winning streak.  

Young leads McCluer North with an average of 28.7 points per game. But Young has put up some other mind-blowing numbers this season. He is averaging 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Yet, it is his shooting numbers that are hard to believe. Young has made 73 percent of his shots, including 56-for-113 from 3-point range.

The Stars are not as deep and talented overall as Chaminade, and have just one other player averaging double figures in scoring. Junior 6-foot-8 forward Jordan Granger is scoring 15.5 points per game and averaging 9.2 rebounds and 4 blocks.

For Chaminade, senior guard Bradley Beal scored 40 points in the team’s earlier meeting. Beal, who is headed to Florida next season, is the area’s top scorer at 32.6 per game. He has 83 made 3s and gets to the line over nine times per game.

Senior guard Tevin Evans has stepped up his play of late, scoring a team-high 27 points in the Red Devils’ 75-45 win over Marquette on Wednesday at UMSL.

Chaminade is aiming for its second state title in the past three seasons.

In the Class 5 Girls State Tournament, (23-5) defeated Poplar Bluff (21-7) on Wednesday night in sectional action, 56-52, at Farmington. They will play St. Joseph's Academy (23-3) on Saturday at UMSL at 2:45 p.m.

Hazelwood Central was behind, 13-4, after the first period but closed the gap to 26-25 by halftime. Senior forward Erika Beard scored a game-high 21 points despite not starting. Senior guard Kearis Vaughn scored all 14 of her points in the second quarter, while senior guard scored each of her 11 points in the second half.

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Ussery leads the Hawks this season at 12.6 points per game this season.

Coach Wendy Reeves did have a look at St.  Joseph's in the regular season when the two teams met on Feb. 4. The Hawks lost, 70-60, at Webster in a tournament game. St. Joseph's junior guard Maddie Stock scored 27 points in that game and sophomore center Sydney Stipanovich added 18 points, 13 rebounds and 11 blocks for the Angels.

Stock leads St. Joseph’s with 17.9 points per game, followed by Stipanovich at 14.1. Stipanovich also averages 12.1 rebounds and 6.6 blocks. Stock’s twin sister, Morgan, averages 10.3 points and 2.9 steals per game.

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