The Post Dispatch Boys High School basketball area poll and other thoughts


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 point shooting from Nate Parker, Trace Ruckman and Luke Laudel.  Eureka has a patient offensive style with multiple sets, picks and rolls and drives to find the BIG or get it to an open three.  McCluer is a tough match-up, being long and lanky with an active pressing full and half court defense that creates a lot of turnovers and easy baskets.  Devon Barshow and company should go a long way in the play-offs but Vashon will be in their path by the quarterfinals of state.  It was a tough defensive game but both teams showed great sportsmanship throughout.

The ratings, which you can find over at www.gramps2020.blogspot.com, are pretty solid.  I haven't missed any of the games that I predicted last week.  I like the statistical approach over a coaches poll or newspaper poll.  For the most part, the Post-Dispatch has the right teams on the list but there are a few teams that are over-rated and a few that should be on the list.

Here's my over-rated list (sorry boys, I think your school isn't that great):

The large school top ten is pretty solid but I don't see SLUH, Ladue or Edwardsville in the top 15.  The stats suggest that Bellville West, Fort Zumwalt South, Eureka and Alton should be the top bubble teams and Granite City should be on the Bubble list somewhere.

The small school top ten is messier.  Trinity is still the #2 in my calculations and I am not sure Westminster, Mater Dei and Lutheran North belong in the top ten.  Confluence, Lift for Life, Soldan and St. Dominic ought to be top ten contenders.

That's all for now.  Enjoy and positive feedback is always welcomed.


STLhighschoolSPORTS.com rankings - 2/12/2020
Large schools Rating
1. CBC (14-6) 140.9
2. Collinsville (24-2) 134.3
3. Francis Howell (21-1) 132.2
4. De Smet (17-5) 138.9
5. O'Fallon (20-5) 133.7
6. Mehlville (15-5) 138.1
7. Chaminade (14-6) 136.7
8. McCluer (15-3) 127.5
9. East St. Louis (17-8) 132.8
10. Belleville East (16-9) 128.8
On the bubble: 
SLUH (10-9) 119.1
Webster Groves (15-6) 125.7
Hazelwood Central (12-9) 126.7
Edwardsville (18-8) 119.1
Ladue (14-7) 119.0
Belleville West (12-10) 126.6
Fort Zumwalt South (15-4) 121.7
Fort Zumwalt North (14-7) 116.3
Alton (11-14) 119.9
Eureka (16-5) 121.2
Overlooked teams: 
Granite City 117.5
McCluer North 116.1
Parkway Central 115.0
Lafayette 114.6
Hazelwood West 114.0
Small schools Rating
1. Vashon (15-5) 145.1
2. Cardinal Ritter (14-6) 131.1
3. Westminster (18-3) 119.9
4. Mater Dei (22-5) 114.8
5. Trinity (17-5) 134.0
6. Lutheran North (16-6) 114.2
7. O'Fallon Christian (18-5) 118.3
8. MICDS (17-4) 118.8
9. University City (13-7) 118.9
10. Jennings (10-9) 116.1
On the bubble:
 Confluence (12-8) 119.8
Priory (15-5) 114.2
 Lift For Life (16-9) 116.6
 Soldan (10-12) 117.7
 St. Dominic (11-9) 116.9
Borgia (11-9) 111.8
 Breese Central (13-13) 124.4
 Freeburg (19-8) 106.9
Alton Marquette (19-6) 104.9
McKinley (17-3) 99.9
Overlooked teams: 
St. Mary's  111.7
Hancock 111.6
St. James 111.3
Whitfield 109.0
St. Charles 108.9

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