HUGE high school basketball matchup tonight!!!

[STL Hoops Insider]

You've got 3 sure-fire D1 signees on the court in the Boga brothers for McCluer and Brad Beal for Chaminade in addition to another very talented guard for Chaminade in Brandon Lockhart and a very talented guard for McCluer Jerrel Partlow. You could even make the argument that Beal and Boga are the top 2 guards in the state for the class of 2011. Its rare you get a matchup of this quality this early in the season. I encourage all to check this game out tonight at Pattonville at 8:15.

[Pistol]

You've got 3 sure-fire D1 signees on the court in the Boga brothers for McCluer and Brad Beal for Chaminade in addition to another very talented guard for Chaminade in Brandon Lockhart and a very talented guard for McCluer Jerrel Partlow. You could even make the argument that Beal and Boga are the top 2 guards in the state for the class of 2011. Its rare you get a matchup of this quality this early in the season. I encourage all to check this game out tonight at Pattonville at 8:15.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, Go Red Devils! It's rare to see my alma mater ranked this high to start the season. I fear that might be too high.

I know McCluer lost early, but which is the better squad in your opinion? Any idea if SLU has shown interest in Beal or the younger Boga?

By the way, it is incredibly hard to keep up on STL high school sports from out of town because of the absolutely dreadful stltoday.com. I checked the schedule/results for Chaminade's first two games and it only has last year's schedule listed. This isn't surprising; whenever I tried to check soccer and football scores, I was lucky if they were less than two weeks old if feature articles weren't written about a more recent game. The paper was always pathetic, but I at least expected someone to be keeping the terribly-formatted website up to date. As bad as the paper is here in Cincinnati, it does a good job with high school and college sports coverage.

[jjray]

STL Hoops Insider, if you get to the game, how about a report?

[STL Hoops Insider]

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, Go Red Devils! It's rare to see my alma mater ranked this high to start the season. I fear that might be too high.

I know McCluer lost early, but which is the better squad in your opinion? Any idea if SLU has shown interest in Beal or the younger Boga?

By the way, it is incredibly hard to keep up on STL high school sports from out of town because of the absolutely dreadful stltoday.com. I checked the schedule/results for Chaminade's first two games and it only has last year's schedule listed. This isn't surprising; whenever I tried to check soccer and football scores, I was lucky if they were less than two weeks old if feature articles weren't written about a more recent game. The paper was always pathetic, but I at least expected someone to be keeping the terribly-formatted website up to date. As bad as the paper is here in Cincinnati, it does a good job with high school and college sports coverage.

I'm not sure yet who's better. Basically Chaminade, McCluer, Borgia, and Maplewood are the big 4 this year in the area. As long as McCluer and Chaminade aren't on the same side of the bracket I think all 4 of those teams will make it to state. Can't forget about Parkway South, they've been a quarterfinalist the last two years. Chaminade beating Maplewood without Brandon Hannah tells me a lot about how good this team can be.

And jj, if I make it out to the game I'll do a "Crash the Court" feature like I did for some of the games I went to last year.

[Guest BillikenReport]

I encourage all to check this game out tonight at Pattonville at 8:15.

What about the 6:45 game between Lafayette and CBC? That should be a decent game as well, though Lafayette is the better team.

I will see you there, V.

[Guest BillikenReport]

Chaminade beating Maplewood without Brandon Hannah tells me a lot about how good this team can be.

I wouldn't take too much from that game. Because of the football team's playoff run, Maplewood had three and a half practices before playing Chaminade and the Blue Devils aren't anywhere close to being as good as they will be later. That's not to say the Red Devils couldn't beat Maplewood two months from now, but it would be a different kind of game.

Both teams should have good seasons. I've heard Hannah could be back soon, but he's been out for a while and it will probably take him a few weeks before he gets into basketball shape.

[STL Hoops Insider]

What about the 6:45 game between Lafayette and CBC? That should be a decent game as well, though Lafayette is the better team.

I will see you there, V.

Not sure I'll make the first game, but I'll look forward to reading your recap in the morning. I'm looking at tonights McCluer/Chaminade game as a possible state championship preview. They are on the same side of the bracket. McCluer has been stuck in districts for years getting knocked out by either McC North or Haz. Central. This should be their year to get out. A really tough district will be Class 5 district 5 featuring Lafayette, Parkway South, and Rockwood Summit, and the winner of that district would play McCluer in Sectionals.

[Guest BillikenReport]

Not sure I'll make the first game, but I'll look forward to reading your recap in the morning. I'm looking at tonights McCluer/Chaminade game as a possible state championship preview. They are on the same side of the bracket. McCluer has been stuck in districts for years getting knocked out by either McC North or Haz. Central. This should be their year to get out. A really tough district will be Class 5 district 5 featuring Lafayette, Parkway South, and Rockwood Summit, and the winner of that district would play McCluer in Sectionals.

I'm not covering the semifinals, just going to watch. I'll be covering the championship game and third-place game on Friday night.

I wouldn't be surprised to see McCluer lose to McCluer North or Hazelwood Central in districts. You never know who will come out of that district and in past years the best team hasn't always survived. Lafayette should win its district, but Ben Hoener always gives Parkway South a chance.

[Supersonic]

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, Go Red Devils! It's rare to see my alma mater ranked this high to start the season. I fear that might be too high.

I know McCluer lost early, but which is the better squad in your opinion? Any idea if SLU has shown interest in Beal or the younger Boga?

By the way, it is incredibly hard to keep up on STL high school sports from out of town because of the absolutely dreadful stltoday.com. I checked the schedule/results for Chaminade's first two games and it only has last year's schedule listed. This isn't surprising; whenever I tried to check soccer and football scores, I was lucky if they were less than two weeks old if feature articles weren't written about a more recent game. The paper was always pathetic, but I at least expected someone to be keeping the terribly-formatted website up to date. As bad as the paper is here in Cincinnati, it does a good job with high school and college sports coverage.

Yes, go Red Devils! When I graduated from Chaminade, we won State in Golf & Tennis. Their sports have come a LONG way. We also ran the single wing offense in football then

[STL Hoops Insider]

I'm not covering the semifinals, just going to watch. I'll be covering the championship game and third-place game on Friday night.

I wouldn't be surprised to see McCluer lose to McCluer North or Hazelwood Central in districts. You never know who will come out of that district and in past years the best team hasn't always survived. Lafayette should win its district, but Ben Hoener always gives Parkway South a chance.

Parkway South has won that district the last 2 years, both times led by Hoener. I dont expect this year to be any different. Their the favorite in my opinion. And I think there is no way McCluer loses to McCluer North. Maybe Hazelwood Central because they have a history of winning games year in and year out that they are not supposed to, but I dont even see that possibly happening because of Shaq Boga. Pg play is key.

[thetorch]

I'll be at Pattonville tonight. Should be interesting to see if Pierson can hold his own against Griffey and Kirksey. Chaminade-McCluer matchup should be one of the best of the year.

[STL Hoops Insider]

I'll be at Pattonville tonight. Should be interesting to see if Pierson can hold his own against Griffey and Kirksey. Chaminade-McCluer matchup should be one of the best of the year.

Alright we got one taker! Boga vs Beal will be a GREAT matchup to watch the next 3 years and it will be fun to see what other schools comes after these kids

[BLIKNS]

Thought I seen somewhere that former DeSmet coach Steiner is/did coaching at Chaminade,is this true?

[brianstl]

I'll be at Pattonville tonight. Should be interesting to see if Pierson can hold his own against Griffey and Kirksey. Chaminade-McCluer matchup should be one of the best of the year.

It will be intresting to see if Pierson will ever become the player he could be.

[STL Hoops Insider]

He had 13 points in his first game, lets see what happens tonight

[GoBills]

Young Mr. Beal has a very bright future. Look forward to getting a look at Boga this year.

[thetorch]

Just back from the games.

Lafayette advanced in a down to the wire game against CBC. Final was 44-42. Griffey scored the game winning bucket on a drive with 2 seconds left. Lafayette has pretty poor guard play which allowed CBC to not only stay in this game but lead throughout the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Ryan Pierson was in foul trouble most of the game. He had just 6 points. He did outplay Kirksey while he was on the floor pretty handily. Kirksey had a pretty bad game. He was 1-12 from the field and didn't take a shot outside of 5 feet. CBC really has no one within 50 lbs of Kirksey besides Pierson but he struggled mightily. EJ Carter and Kevin Walsh actually did a pretty decent job of defending Griffey. He was pretty well contained in the first half. Carter was the offensive star for CBC. Griffey started to take over late in the third and dominated in the 4th quarter. He finished with 25 points, he only had 7 in the first half. He'll be a good player for Illinois. Inside out guy, but his range is not very deep 15-17 feet at the most. If he wants to play SF in the big ten he will have to extend that out to 3 land. CBC is not a great team. Lafayette shouldn't advance very far in state. A team with good guards will overcome Griffey's skill level every time.

McCluer will take on Lafayette as they beat Chaminade something like 74-66. McCluer led straight out of the gate, they run and run and run and Chaminade couldn't keep up. Comets led by as many as 18 in the 3rd quarter. Beal and Hannah started to get hot and came all the way to within six points but McCluer held on. Lonnie Boga dominated in the first half, driving to the basket and hitting 3s on his way to game high 28 points. Shaquille ran the show for McCluer and chipped in with 20 points. Shaquille's outside shot was really off but he seemed to have worked on his handles and bulked up a little since last year as he got to the basket almost as well as his brother. Partlow added 16 for McCluer. Beal and Hannah really started off slow but came on in the second half. Beal finished with 25. He was really smooth throughout, good outside shooter, good handles for a 2. Hannah is a linebacker. Defends anywhere on the court but at this point on offense is a 6'3 PF. If he gets bigger or develops guard skills he will be someone to watch. His body is D-1 ready at 15. Hannah finished with 14 points.

Should be a good matchup on friday. McCluer's guards are 10 times better than Lafayette's but McCluer has no one near the size of Griffey and Kirksey in the middle. CBC will try to slow tempo but McCluer is too fast. Griffey should be able to exert control over a ballgame but he didn't until well into the 2nd half against an inferior team in CBC tonight. McCluer should win handily if the Bogas and Partlow are on target from outside.

[marcthebillikenfan]

Just back from the games.

Lafayette advanced in a down to the wire game against CBC. Final was 44-42. Griffey scored the game winning bucket on a drive with 2 seconds left. Lafayette has pretty poor guard play which allowed CBC to not only stay in this game but lead throughout the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Ryan Pierson was in foul trouble most of the game. He had just 6 points. He did outplay Kirksey while he was on the floor pretty handily. Kirksey had a pretty bad game. He was 1-12 from the field and didn't take a shot outside of 5 feet. CBC really has no one within 50 lbs of Kirksey besides Pierson but he struggled mightily. EJ Carter and Kevin Walsh actually did a pretty decent job of defending Griffey. He was pretty well contained in the first half. Carter was the offensive star for CBC. Griffey started to take over late in the third and dominated in the 4th quarter. He finished with 25 points, he only had 7 in the first half. He'll be a good player for Illinois. Inside out guy, but his range is not very deep 15-17 feet at the most. If he wants to play SF in the big ten he will have to extend that out to 3 land. CBC is not a great team. Lafayette shouldn't advance very far in state. A team with good guards will overcome Griffey's skill level every time.

McCluer will take on Lafayette as they beat Chaminade something like 74-66. McCluer led straight out of the gate, they run and run and run and Chaminade couldn't keep up. Comets led by as many as 18 in the 3rd quarter. Beal and Hannah started to get hot and came all the way to within six points but McCluer held on. Lonnie Boga dominated in the first half, driving to the basket and hitting 3s on his way to game high 28 points. Shaquille ran the show for McCluer and chipped in with 20 points. Shaquille's outside shot was really off but he seemed to have worked on his handles and bulked up a little since last year as he got to the basket almost as well as his brother. Partlow added 16 for McCluer. Beal and Hannah really started off slow but came on in the second half. Beal finished with 25. He was really smooth throughout, good outside shooter, good handles for a 2. Hannah is a linebacker. Defends anywhere on the court but at this point on offense is a 6'3 PF. If he gets bigger or develops guard skills he will be someone to watch. His body is D-1 ready at 15. Hannah finished with 14 points.

Should be a good matchup on friday. McCluer's guards are 10 times better than Lafayette's but McCluer has no one near the size of Griffey and Kirksey in the middle. CBC will try to slow tempo but McCluer is too fast. Griffey should be able to exert control over a ballgame but he didn't until well into the 2nd half against an inferior team in CBC tonight. McCluer should win handily if the Bogas and Partlow are on target from outside.

Beal had 25 tonight then I don't know what game I was watching. The refs were calling any touch on the young mr. beal and his shot was way off tonight. he had several turnovers also. Hannah looked more liked he scored 25 tonight. Hannah is incredible strong but is about 6'2 and that my freind will not get you any looks D1 being an inside player. Was that an official score count for Beal because I didn't see it and he was not that impressive to me tonight. I do however like the Boga brothers especially the younger one. Not sold on Beal just yet.

[DeSmetBilliken]

Thought I seen somewhere that former DeSmet coach Steiner is/did coaching at Chaminade,is this true?

Haven't heard anything, but Steiner retired from DeSmet basketball, though I'm guessing he's still teaching P.E. there because he is still listed on the school's website as a faculty member.

Steiner was an assistant at DeSmet for some time, then was the head coach at Chaminade for a few years in the mid to late 90's before going back to DeSmet to become the head coach around 10 years ago.

[BLIKNS]

Thanks DeSmet,guess I read it wrong,maybe that he did coach at Chaminade at one time,not now.

[Pistol]

Thanks DeSmet,guess I read it wrong,maybe that he did coach at Chaminade at one time,not now.

Kelvin Lee is still the head coach at Chaminade. His first season was 1997-1998, my freshman year there. He replaced Steiner, who started at DeSmet that year.

It's a shame they lost last night. That's all right, though, better to lose now than in the playoffs- hopefully this matchup will return then.

[Guest BillikenReport]

Beal had 25 tonight then I don't know what game I was watching. The refs were calling any touch on the young mr. beal and his shot was way off tonight. he had several turnovers also. Hannah looked more liked he scored 25 tonight. Hannah is incredible strong but is about 6'2 and that my freind will not get you any looks D1 being an inside player. Was that an official score count for Beal because I didn't see it and he was not that impressive to me tonight. I do however like the Boga brothers especially the younger one. Not sold on Beal just yet.

Beal had 25 according to the Chaminade scorebook I looked at after the game. He picked up a lot of points in the second half, including many on free throws.

His outside shot was off, but he did a lot of things well. I was sitting with the group of coaches near mid-court and I think everyone was impressed.

Lockhart looked like he was pressing because there were coaches in the stands. He did not play well. Hannah looked great, especially for a kid coming off a knee injury. If he were 6-7, he'd be a good prospect. Instead, he'll be a Division I wide receiver somewhere.

Lonnie Boga dominated the game from start to finish. He made tough shots and Chaminade didn't have an answer for him. Shaquille Boga struggled with his shot but still got to the basket and got easy points and made his opportunities at the free throw line count.

edit...

The referees took control of the Lafayette-CBC game in the early moments. The three post players, Tyler Griffey, Will Kirksey and Ryan Pierson, combined for about a dozen fouls. The refs took Kirksey and Pierson out of the game. Griffey showed that he is a skilled big who can do a little bit of everything. I'd still like to see him more in the post than the wing, but that should change next year. There were plenty of times last night when he took himself out of the offense by just standing at the high post along the free throw line. Lafayette has to put him in better positions to score.

Pierson did some good things and some bad things. I wanted to see him play more, but he spent most of the game on the bench because of fouls. I didn't like when he took two mid-range shots late in the game. He should have been more patient and probably could have gotten easier baskets. I like kids being aggressive and trying to make something happen, but he could have gotten better shots. It looked like he's worked hard to get stronger and improved around the basket. How hard he continues to work will determine what level he plays at in two years.

[thetorch]

Lonnie Boga completely dominated the first half. Beal dominated the second. He scored every bit of 25 points the vast majority of those in the second half. He hit a couple threes late but his shots were mostly made at the line or on drives. Once again I thought Beal's ballhandling was much better than what I'd seen out of him previously. Lockhart really deferred to Beal on offense and had a very hard time keeping up with shaquille on defense. In the second half Chaminade changed their defense and Beal was following the point man in their zone.

Pierson was the only one in huge foul trouble. Kirksey was just ineffective. Griffey had a few fouls but they were fair. I imagine it is hard for Griffey, being semi skilled on the perimeter but vastly better out there than any of his teams guards. I think Lafayette leaves him on the perimeter and high post to help out their guards. That said Griffey never took his man one on one on the perimeter until late in the game. I'll give credit to CBC too, they had a very solid gameplan on defense. They were really limiting passing lanes into Griffey and made him take the ball himself on the outside or be a non factor. That is probably the best way to beat Lafayette. Pierson looks good, he's lsot some weight but still has some muscle. In warmups he was jumping better than I'd seen him. Last year it seemed like he struggled to get to the rim now he goes up with ease. We didn't see any of that in the game though. He was frustrated on the court. He was outplaying both the Lafayette big men in the first quarter then sat until the second half. Never got back into rhythm. I think he is a better player than Kirksey but is way outclassed by Griffey.

[marcthebillikenfan]

My last question to Nate and Torch since both of you were their. Do you guys think Beal is Florida, Kansas, Illinois good or do you see the upside in him to make that good in the future. I see a kid with a lot of talent but low to mid major talent. I don't think he had a bigger upside than Lisch or Tommie at this stage in their careers. His ball handling was decent but not outstanding and what I see as a major problem for Beal is is speed and strength. I again think he is good but I just don't see a high major talent hidden away their. Just my opinion

[Guest BillikenReport]

My last question to Nate and Torch since both of you were their. Do you guys think Beal is Florida, Kansas, Illinois good or do you see the upside in him to make that good in the future. I see a kid with a lot of talent but low to mid major talent. I don't think he had a bigger upside than Lisch or Tommie at this stage in their careers. His ball handling was decent but not outstanding and what I see as a major problem for Beal is is speed and strength. I again think he is good but I just don't see a high major talent hidden away their. Just my opinion

Beal reminds me a lot of Scott Suggs at the same stage and has similar interest from colleges as Suggs had at the same time. One of the things Beal has going for him, in terms of strength, is that his two older brothers are both big strong kids who play college football. Beal should continue to get taller (maybe 6-5 or 6-6), so you're looking at a good sized shooting guard who can knock down shots from anywhere and has the ability to get near the basket and finish.

I don't think that last night's performance was the kid's best, but he still showed some flashes and finished with 25 points.

He certainly has a lot of upside. It's hard to say he's not a high-major talent when the last three national champion coaches, Bill Self and Billy Donovan, think he is.