Second round match-ups are set at the 35th Bass Pro Tournament of Champions at JQH Arena in Springfield.
Memphis East, Sunrise Christian, McEachern, and Shadow Mountain have all won their first round contests and will play in Friday’s semifinals.
Shadow Mountain 74, Belleville West 57
The Matadors pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Maroons 27-10 in the period after leading 31-26 at halftime.
Jaelen House put on a show for Shadow Mountain (17-1), scoring 31 points and draining six of his team’s 11 three pointers.
House also had seven rebounds and five steals.
E.J. Liddell led three players in double figures with 16 points for Belleville West, who loses for the first time this season, dropping to 17-1.
McEachern 75, Springfield Catholic 42
In a battle of undefeated teams, McEachern High School out of Powder Springs, Georgia downed the Springfield Catholic Fightin’ Irish.
McEachern, ranked second in the nation by USA Today, stormed to a 19-0 lead before Tyson Riley’s shot put Catholic on the board with 3:00 left in the opening quarter.
By the end of the first quarter, the Indians had a 26-4 lead. It was 50-13 at halftime.
The Irish outscored McEachern 13-5 with a running clock in the final period.
Sharife Cooper led all scorers with 28 points, 22 of them coming in the first half.
Cooper is the 23rd ranked player in the U-S, and has been recruited by major college programs such as Alabama, Auburn, Connecticut, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina State, and Vanderbilt.
Isaac Okoro added 16 points and Alyn Breed put in 12 for McEachern, who improves to 16-0 on the season.
Catholic, who earlier this week broke a 60 year old school record by winning 16 straight games to start the season, had two players in double figures as Riley and Charlie O’Reilly scored ten points each.
https://soundcloud.com/947ktts/springfield-catholic-postgame-press-conference-1-17-19
Sunrise Christian Academy 66, Rainier Beach 45
Sunrise Christian Academy jumped out to a 28-22 lead at halftime, then outscored Rainier Beach 14-6 in the third quarter and rolled to a win.
N’Faly Dante, ranked seventh in the nation and recruited by Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon, LSU, ISU, and Minnesota, finished with 18 points on 6-6 shooting to lead Sunrise.
Austin Crowley added 15 points for the Buffaloes, with Grant Sherfield putting in 13.
MarJon Beauchamp led Rainier Beach with 11 points.
The Buffaloes are now 13-2 overall, while Rainier Beach drops to 10-2.
Memphis East 55, Springfield Parkview 41:
In the opening game, Memphis East (Memphis, TN) jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and held on to beat the Parkview Vikings.
The Vikings (9-7) cut the lead to 11 points at the end of the third period, and pulled within nine on four different occasions early in the fourth quarter before the Mustangs (13-4) pulled away.
James Wiseman, the number one ranked player in the country (ESPN) putting on a show, scoring 21 points and slamming down seven dunks, six of them in the first half.
Wiseman, who also pulled down 19 rebounds, is a 7-0 senior, and will play college basketball at Memphis.
Teammate Malcolm Dandridge, who will also stay in Memphis to play college ball, scored 13 points.
Nakai Johnson led Parkview with ten points, with Latre Morrison putting in nine.
https://soundcloud.com/947ktts/parkview-vikings-press-conference-1-17-19
Here are the scores and schedule for Thursday’s opening round action:
Final: Memphis East 55, Springfield Parkview 41
Final: Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, KS) 66, Rainier Beach (Seattle, WA) 45
Final: McEachern High School (Powder Springs, GA) 75, Springfield Catholic 42
Final: Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, AZ) 74, Belleville West (Belleville, IL) 57
The tournament continues Friday with second round action, starting in the consolation bracket at 4:30 p.m., with winner’s bracket semifinals beginning at 8:00 p.m.
Here’s the schedule for Friday’s second round at JQH Arena:
Springfield Parkview vs. Rainier Beach 4:30 p.m.
Springfield Catholic vs. Belleville West 6:00 p.m.
Memphis East vs. Sunrise Christian 8:00 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
McEachern vs. Shadow Mountain 9:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Saturday’s play tips off 2:30 p.m. with the seventh place game, followed by the consolation finals at 4:00 p.m., the Great Southern Bank Slam Dunk Contest at 6:00 p.m., the third place game at 7:00 p.m, and the championship game at 9:00 p.m.
