McCluer North, Young Enjoy Perfect Ending to Wild Season

The 2010-11 basketball season has been a challenge for standout B.J. Young.

The senior, who is headed to the University of Arkansas, was suspended for two games during the regular season. And a postseason that has become one for the ages was almost halted by a spider.

Young received a spider bite just prior to the Stars’ memorable one-point victory over Chaminade in the Class 5 quarterfinals in which Young scored 27 points in the second half.

It swelled up badly just prior to the final four, but Young was able to play and again shined as he led the North Stars to the Class 5 championship for the second time in the past five years.

McCluer North defeated Troy, 63-53, on Saturday night in the Class 5 championship game at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

"It started swelling up all week," Young said of the spider bite. "I had to go to the doctor twice and take my antibiotics. I didn't know if I would be able to play. But by Wednesday I was shooting, by Thursday I was running and by Friday I was playing."

And boy did Young play, scoring 30 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter, in a three-point semifinal win Friday over Lee's Summit North. He would add 21 points to go along with four assists and three steals in the victory over the Trojans.

"B.J. Young has been doing this for us all season," McCluer North coach Randy Reed said. "He is the best player I have coached without a doubt. There is nothing that he cannot do on the court. He has no weaknesses, offensively."

The Stars got off to a good start Saturday night, unlike on Friday when they trailed 14-2 just three and a half minutes into the game. It was McCluer North that had the early double-digit lead Saturday, leading 16-6 after the first quarter.

"I felt we needed to come out and play the way we did against Chaminade and Hazelwood Central," said McCluer North forward Akintoye Okunrinboye, who saved his first high school dunk for the state championship game. "I told the guys that a 0-10 start like we had against Lee's Summit was not going to happen again. We could not come out sluggishly today."

McCluer North kept up the pressure in the second quarter. Okunrinboye had 10 first-half points and the Stars had a 31-15 halftime advantage.

Troy did what it could to try to make it a game in the second half. Derek Deters hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter, and Ben Chaney hit a pair in the fourth quarter. The Trojans also hit all eight of their free throw attempts in the fourth quarter (they were 16-for-17 for the game).

But Troy was never able to get the deficit down to single digits until Neil Branham scored on a three-point play with 16 seconds to play. It was only the second of 19 field-goal attempts made by Branham, who missed all six of his 3-point attempts but made all nine of his free throws.

As has been the case for the entire playoffs, Young saved his best for the second half as he scored 15 in the final two quarters.

"We had some tough times and tough games, but we were able to stay on the course and now we are state champions," Young said. "That is something I have been dreaming about my whole life. It is an overwhelming feeling. This team stayed together and we would not let outsiders mess up what was going on and we came out state champs."

Reed seemed to enjoy this championship as much if not more than the one the Stars won in 2007.

"This was a very special team, and I am most proud of this group than any I have had," Reed said. "We had to run through the gauntlet every week. I wouldn't wish that on any coach."

The Stars had to defeat a Hazelwood Central team, which had beaten them by 18 points less than a month earlier, just to get past the districts.

They followed that up with a win against Cape Central and then the classic against Chaminade.

"The ultimate test was Chaminade," Reed said. "That was D-day for us. But both of the teams we faced here in Columbia were tough. Lee's Summit North was a very good team and you have to give Troy a lot of credit for getting this far. The key for us tonight was our relentless defense. We wanted to make it an athletic game and not let them run their sets like they did against Rock Bridge (in a 57-45 win in the semifinals Friday). We really did a good job of disrupting their offense."

Troy had 13 more field goal attempts and nine more rebounds than McCluer North. But the Trojans shot just 30.2 percent from the field for the game, including 5-of-22 from 3-point range. Deters and Branham had 13 each while Chaney added 12 for the Trojans, who finished 21-10.

Young had 21 while Okunrinboye had 15, including his first dunk for the Stars.

"Akintoye is a true coach's player," Reed said. "He is like a coach on the floor. He has a great attitude and is so unselfish and is such a hard worker."

Jordan Granger added 11 and had four blocks for McCluer North, which shot 60 percent from the field. The Stars finished the season with a 28-4 record.