2017-18 High School Basketball Awards
according to Stlprepsports.com
Team of the Year:
Belleville West
Players of the Year:
EJ Liddell Belleville West Gatorade IL POY
Torrence Watson Whitfield Gatorade MO POY
Coach of the Year:
Joe Muniz Belleville West
Conference of the Year:
Southwestern Conference
First Team All Metro:
Torrence Watson Whitfield G SR 6’4″ 2017-18 MO Gatorade Player of the Year, lead the Metro area with a 31.9 ppg. He is the whole package (Mizzou Recruit)
Courtney Ramey Webster Groves G SR 6’4″ 21.8 ppg/6.6 apg/ He might be the best rebounding guard I’ve seen in years. He wouldn’t let Webster Groves lose.
Mario McKinney Vashon G JR 6’2″He fills the stat sheet every night and has the heart of a lion. He is the best athlete on the first team.
Jericole Hellems Chaminade F SR 6’7″ 23.3 ppg/ 8.4 rpg. He can take control of the game and especially big games and one the best floppers in High School basketball. Great Player. (NC State Recruit)
EJ Liddell Belleville West F JR 6’7″ 20.8 ppg / 8.2 rpg/ 5.9 bspg IL Gatorade Player of the Year. He could be the video on how to block shots without committing a foul. We still have one more year to watch this guy
Second Team All Metro:
Shaun Williams Hazelwood Central G SR 6’3″ another one that fills the stat sheet. He wants the ball in crunch time. (Kansas State Recruit)
DeAndre Campbell Parkway Central G SR 6’1″ 24.0 ppg/ 4.9 apg He is the best driver to the basket in the area. Plays good defense and you know you’ve been in a war after a game with this one
Kale Catchings Liberty (Wentzville) 18.9 ppg He has a high basketball IQ and plays great Defense and doesn’t have to play on the blocks. Athlete (Harvard Recruit)
Terrance Hargrove Jr. East St. Louis F JR 6’7″ 18.2 ppg/ 9.5 rpg/ 2.4 bspg This guy can do it all and we also get to see him one more year. He is getting better and better
Carte’Are Gordon Webster Groves C SR 6’8″ 18.0 ppg/ 8.3 rpg/ 2.0 bspg its never dull with this guy around. He might be the best athlete on the all-metro team this year (St. Louis U Recruit)
Third Team All Metro:
Yuri Collins St. Mary’s G JR 5’11” 13.6 ppg/6.3 apg/ 2.5 spg This guy was the engine that kept one the best teams in the area going. My personal favorite player to watch
Jack Marinko Edwardsville G SR 6′ 26.0 ppg/ 3.3 3ptpg/ 5.7 apg This guy can flat out play. He moves without the ball better than anyone in the area
Leon Perry Confluence F SR 6’7″ 22.6 ppg/ 12.7 rpg/ 3.8 bspg He can fill the stat sheet. He doesnt have to play inside . He shoots pretty well. Confluence had a great year
Antonio Burks St. Mary’s G/F SR 6’3″ 13.0 ppg/ 4.9 rpg/ 2.6 spg This guy can play some defense and usually gets the other teams best player. He can play both sides of the ball.
Jamarr Williams Northwest Academy C SR 6’7″ 20.4 ppg/ 19.8 rpg/ 7.3 bspg He fills the stat sheet. Great all around player
Honorable Mention:
Brandon Fredrick Confluence G SR 5’10”
Cameron Williams Hazelwood Central G SR 6’4″
Kyle Younge JR Jennings G SR 5’9″
Mitch Fairless Duchesne F SR 6’5″
EJ Bellinger Fort Zumwalt South G JR 6’4″
Malachi Smith Belleville West G SR 6’3″
Gavin Pinkley Hillsboro C SR 6’8″
All Sophomore Team:
Caleb Love CBC
Jordan Nesbitt Lutheran North
Matt Schark Francis Howell
Cam’Ron Fletcher Vashon
RaySean Taylor Collinsville
Devion Harris Parkway Central
Luke Kasubke Chaminade
Jayce Catchings Liberty (Wentzville)
Top 10 Big Schools Final Ranking:
1.) Belleville West (32-2) won the Illinois Class 4 State Championship
2.) Webster Groves (22-9) won the Missouri Class 5 State Championship
3.) Chaminade(25-5) beat in the Class 5 Championship by Webster Groves
4.) Hazelwood Central (27-3) lost to Chaminade in Class 5 Quarters and had a Great Year was #1 most of the year
5.) Francis Howell (25-4) lost in the Sectionals to Chaminade and Took Hazelwood Central to triple overtime
6.) Parkway Central (24-6) all losses were good losses and lost to Jennings in the Class 4 Quarterfinals
7.) Edwardsville (18-9) in the toughest conference in the area. All but one loss were to teams in rankings or out of town teams.
8.) Fort Zumwalt South(24-5) lost to Webster Groves in the Quarterfinals. They were not ready for primetime but had a great year.
9.) CBC (13-14) had the toughest schedule other than Webster Groves
10.) East St. Louis(16-11) in the toughest conference in the area. The fourth team in the conference in the top ten.
Top 10 Small Schools Final Ranking :
1.) St. Mary’s (27-4) beat Vashon in the Sectionals and Chaminade by 42 points
2.) Vashon (20-6) lost to St. Mary’s sectionals but beat Webster Groves and played a very tough schedule.
3.) Jennings (28-4) won 3rd place in Missouri Class 4. They didn’t play the top 2 teams but had a good run this year.
4.) Northwest Academy (22-8) made it to state again and lost to the eventual state Champion Hogan Prep, The only losses locally Webster Groves and St. Mary’s
5.) Okawville(27-8) won the Illinois Class 1A State Championship Competition?
6.) Alton Marquette (29-1) lost in the second round of the Playoffs to Columbia but gets credit for going undefeated in the regular season.
7.) Confluence (23-5) lost to St. Mary’s in the Districts by 27 points. The only other local loss was to Belleville West
8.) Whitfield (21-8) played a tough schedule. They had some quality losses and made it to the Quarterfinals
9.) Wesclin (26-5) lost to a very good Pinckneyville team in the playoffs and lost to #7) Confluence
10.) Duchesne(18-9) had some quality wins St. Mary’s, Trinity, Parkway Central. Played a real tough schedule
Mike Waldo is retiring from being the head coach at Edwardsville High School this year. Waldo is an institution in Southern Illinois with a record of 727-266 and a record at Edwardsville with a 646-215.His team won 10 Southwestern Conference championships, 21 regional titles, seven sectional championships and had five state finals trips. I have a feeling he will show up coaching somewhere else.
Rick Kirby is stepping down from being the Head Coach at Parkway Central High School. He is one of the best coaches in the area and always scouting the other team. Over the course of his two tenures, Kirby has won more than 440 games and guided the Colts to five district titles and four state semifinal appearances. He’s the all-time wins leader for the entire Parkway School District. In 2012, he was inducted into the Missouri High School Coaches Hall of Fame.
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