Notebook: Postseason Unkind to Area Teams

As exhilarating as postseason basketball can be, it is also represents a very sudden ending to the season, as many Town & Country and Manchester-area teams and players experienced by the end of last week.

The Parkway South boys basketball team had its season conclude last Friday night in a frustrating 30-28 loss to Marquette. It will likely be the lowest scoring boys basketball district championship played in Missouri this season as neither team could string together an offensive run.

Coach Mitch Stevens’ Patriots end with a 21-6 mark and failed to advance out of the Class 5 District 4 title game at Lafayette High School despite being the top seed. Parkway South was aiming for its fourth district championship in five seasons, but shot 23.5 percent against Marquette. Senior guard Sam Jaouni scored 15 points in the title game.

Senior 6-foot-6 center Tom Holaway led the Patriots this season with 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, but shot 0-for-6 last Friday as he was matched against Marquette 6-foot-9 all-conference big man Ryan Rosburg, who scored 14 points.

The Parkway South girls team also had their season end last Friday in the Class 5 District 4 tourney. The fourth-seeded Patriots gave a strong effort against top-seeded Eureka, but fell 65-60 in the district semifinal.

Senior Jordan Anthony scored 20 points, and senior Katie Hoener added 16 points. They are two of the team’s four seniors. Anthony led Parkway South this season with 14.2 points per game while Hoener averaged 9.7.

Sophomore Becca Steins, who had 14 points against Eureka, averaged 10.3 points and will be the Patriots’ top returning scorer next season. She led the team with 74 blocks this season.

Patriots coach Thomas Williams saw his Patriots end this season at 14-14, including a 4-4 mark in the Suburban West Conference.

The CBC boys, meanwhile, had their season end against a red-hot Webster Groves team, 66-47, last Thursday in the Class 5 District 3 semifinals. The Cadets finished 19-8. In his final game at CBC, senior guard Seth Jackson scored 23 points. He led the Cadets this season with 21 points per game, followed closely by senior backcourt mate Darion Rackley at 20.4. Coach Bob McCormack loses nine seniors this season and his top returning scorer next season is freshman Jordan Barnett (4.3 points per game). Needless to say, it will take a major regrouping for CBC to a force again next season.

The Visitation Academy girls team also had their season on last Friday. The second-seeded Vivettes finished 20-7 after their 49-40 loss to St. Dominic in the Class 4 District 7 title game at Duchesne. Visitation went 3-0 in the very competitive MWAA White Conference, which features other top-tier teams in St. Joseph’s Academy, Incarnate Word and Cor Jesu.

The JFK boys ended its season at 4-21 after losing to St. Pius X (18-7) on Tuesday night in the Class 3 District 4 tourney at Crystal City. The Celts finished with 1-11 league mark in the AAA Conference, and lost their last nine games.

The Kennedy girls will be in action on Wednesday night in the district semifinals against St. Pius X (16-9). The Celts beat Bayless on Monday, 52-22, as senior Paige Stewart scored 18 points. She leads Kennedy with an average of  17.2 points and 5.4 steals per game.

It certainly was not the ending that the six Parkway West seniors envisioned coming into this season. However, after last Monday’s (Feb. 21) 56-45 loss to Eureka in the first round of the Class 5 District 4 tournament, this season came to a sudden conclusion for the Longhorns.

Led by all-conference 6-foot-6 forward Larry Toomey, new Parkway West coach John Wright had hoped for better given that the Longhorns had a record of 23-7 two seasons ago, and 21-7 in the 2009-10 season. They finished at 12-14 this season, including a 4-3 mark in the Suburban South Conference. Toomey led the team with averages of 17.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He also leads Parkway West with 42 blocks and 41 steals this season.

Toomey became the seventh player in Longhorns history to reach 1,000 career points during their game on Feb. 2 against Fort Zumwalt West. This group of seniors was coached by the school’s all-time wins, Bill Sodemann, in their first three seasons, but he retired after last season

The Parkway West girls team also lost in its first district game, falling 62-27 to Parkway South. The Longhorns finished 5-21, including 3-4 in league play. Senior forward Maggie Wenstrup led the team with 14.9 points, 9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

In case you missed our story recapping Parkway West’s state swimming championship, .

The Parkway Central boys basketball team had another rough season, though they showed a little spark in Class 5 District 5 play. The third-seeded Colts beat Ritenour, 52-37, in the first round at De Smet before losing a tough game to second-seeded Hazelwood West in the semifinals, 64-56 last Wednesday.

Parkway Central finished 11-16, including a 2-5 record in the Suburban South Conference. The team was led this season by 6-foot-6 junior forward Zach Biggs. He averaged a team-best 16.4 points, 9.7 points and 2.6 blocks per game and will be one of the best players in the Suburban South next season.

For the Parkway Central girls, the season ended on Tuesday, Feb. 22 with a frustrating 41-38 defeat to third-seeded Pattonville. The Colts finish at 10-16 (3-4 Suburban South). Coach Brian Guilfoyle loses only three seniors, though this includes the team’s top scorer, Alison Magruder (12.5 points per game).