2019-2020 Missouri Boys High School Basketball

I occasionally look at results for boy's games to see how well my ratings model compares to future results.  I looked at last Friday's and Saturday's games in the St. Louis area to see how well the current ratings for Missouri and a few Illinois teams stand up to scrutiny.  Getting the winner is good, coming close on the spread is better. I looked at 63 games and picked 60 games correctly based on my last ratings blog.  Spreads looked good also, although injuries and illness sometimes factor in. So here's the analysis and I am attaching four pages of alphabetized ratings for all Missouri boys teams and the Illinois teams I have rated.  Take it to your District play-off game and see how your team does to the spread. Enjoy BOY'S BASKETBALL RATINGS CHECK-UP 60 OUT OF 63 CORRECT 95% CORRECT? Event Score SPREAD ACTUAL YES Oran-57 at Bloomfield-27 - Final 57-27 30 30.9 YES

About 10 days ago, I posted my rankings and predicted 27 games over the next week and a half, based upon my ratings model.  Here's a look back at how I did with spreads and correct winners. 96% accuracy in picking the correct team.  The spreads vary but sometimes teams will start sending in subs so they don't run up the score. Check back for the boys ratings in a few days.... I have been working on Missouri girls and neglected the other guys.... Correct Predictions 27 96% Incorrect Predictions 1 Actual 2/13 McCluer over Parkway Central by 30 17 2/13 Cardinal Ritter over Tolton by 6 9 2/13 St. Elizabeth over Linn by 11 24 2/14 CBC over SLUH by 22 14 2/14 De Smet over Vianney by 25 7 2/14 Mehlville over Oakville by 28 11 2/14 Francis Howell over FHN by 40 69 2/14 Staley over Park Hill South by 6 -9 wro

The big news last night was the near upset of Vashon by the highly regarded CBC squad.  Justin Love could not keep the Cadets in front as Vashon, behind 33 points and 12 rebounds from Nick Kern helped the Wolverines overcome a 9 point deficit to win by nine.  I had Vashon as a three point favorite which means the game was nearly a toss up.  CBC nearly pulled it off.  I don't think anyone will beat Vashon the rest of the way.  I expect the Wolves to beat up Hazelwood Central later this week and CBC to bounce back and beat De Smet. If the Vashon-CBC game hadn't been in the spotlight, folks might have noticed the battle for the Suburban Red conference lead between an outstanding McCluer Comet team and the upstart Eureka Wildcats.  The Wildcats, unremarkable in stature, other than big man Jack Burke at 6'5" and 235 pounds, just seem to keep winning with a 17-6 record.  McCluer is now 18-3 after holding off a 20-10 comeback in the 4th quarter by Burke, with hot three poi

I don't know why you would call it ugly?  I am talking about the title of the article in the Missourian electronic publication on February 15th.  Vashon traveled to Columbia Hickman and came away with a 65-31 victory.  It had to be a thing of beauty for Wolverine fans but I guess the local editor thought it was ugly.  That was the title of the nice column by a student journalist but I think the editor probably retitled it.  You can check it out here: https://www.columbiamissourian.com/sports/prep_sports/hickman-boys-basketball-drops-ugly-game-to-vashon/article_c91d5de6-5043-11ea-bd62-c32df6c5de5f.html I have been guilty of being negative at times.  You try not to be because these high school kids are trying really hard to be their best.  I hate to see the Missourian belittling the Hickman players with the title "Hickman boys basketball drops ugly game to Vashon".  What did they expect?  The Vashon team is the best in Missouri and one the best in the country.  Hickman