| Kirkwood | 22 | 11 | 20 | 8 | 61 |
| Webster | 16 | 31 | 21 | 9 | 77 |
Christmas is the time of giving and everyone was in the spirit
Friday night at Webster Groves.
The Kirkwood boys basketball team spent the second quarter giving
the ball away.
Webster Groves spent the night giving its crowd something to cheer
about.
The referees got into the act too. They spent the night giving
everyone in the gym the impression they weren’t paying attention.
When the final horn sounded on this holiday party the Statesmen
emerged with a 77-61 victory that isn’t nearly as close as the final
score would indicate.
Consider that Webster Groves senior point guard Derrick Dilworth
picked up his third foul with nearly four minutes remaining in the
first half, the Statesmen were colder than a polar bear’s toenails
the first quarter and they played keep away the last half of the
fourth instead of attacking the basket and putting on the pressure.
Webster Groves took this game by the throat in the second quarter
when it turned a four-point deficit into a14-point halftime lead.
The Statesmen shredded the Pioneers for 31 points in those eight
minutes.
Most of which came as a direct result of eight steals as Kirkwood
melted under the defensive pressure and made bad decisions with the
basketball.
Not helping matters were a slew of bad calls by the officials. The
capper of which was backcourt call that was so erroneous it was
unclear why the referee even blew his whistle in the first place.
Webster (5-0) got the ball back and, on the ensuing play, hit a
3-pointer to extend its lead to 12 with less than a minute left in
the half.
That’s how the second quarter went for the Pioneers (3-2). They
didn’t do themselves any favors and they couldn’t get a break. Even
when it appeared they had something in their favor, like Dilworth
picking up his third foul, it backfired.
Senior guard Cortez Conners picked up the slack with Dilworth on the
bench. He wound up with a game-high 24 points.
More than its pressure, Webster’s depth is what carried it past
Kirkwood.
“We were in serious foul trouble,” Webster Groves coach Jay Blossom
said.
Dilworth scored 15 points. Junior guards James Kenner and Kendal
Shell scored 13 and 10, respectively. Sophomore guard Rayshawn
Simmons scored eight points and played superb defense on Kirkwood
senior guard Hunter Ward.
The Pioneers were led by sophomore guard Myles Artis who scored 23
points and never ventured more than four feet from the basket for
any of his buckets. The kid is skinnier than a pair of European
jeans yet displays incredible toughness, patience and smarts near
the cup. Webster Groves had no answers for him in the paint.
“You look at the size of that kid’s heart,” Kirkwood coach Bill Gunn
said.
Ward scored 18 and was hounded all game by longer, quicker defenders
like Simmons. His best looks often came in transition as the
Statesmen went out of their way to make him work on the offensive
end. He was the only Pioneer to hit a 3-pointer.
It’s become an annual tradition for Webster Groves to bang on its
rival during the regular season. The last time Kirkwood won the
regularly scheduled grudge match was 2001. Now the Pioneers did get
a win at the Meramec Tournament in 2005 and have won the past two
postseason meetings, including a year ago when they sent the
defending Class 5 champs home in the district semifinals.
These two teams are by no means finished products but, right now,
it’s pretty plain that Webster is better. Webster is still finding
its rhythm with a handful of football players getting a late start
with the basketball team.
Kirkwood will have CBC transfer Kyle Rice eligible the second half
of the season. Senior post Mycole Pruitt, who is currently
suspended, could return at some point in January. A lot of things
happen between now and the playoffs.
“My thing is, I’d love to win tournaments and conference,” Gunn
said. “But let’s get better every day and play our best basketball
at the end of the season.”
Kirkwood plays DeSmet in the first round of the Meramec Holiday
Festival next Saturday.
Webster Groves plays University City at Meramec next Sunday.
dkvidahl@yourjournal.com
Dilworth's 26 points help Webster win its tourney
| Kirkwood | 11 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 55 |
| Webster | 16 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 70 |
WEBSTER GROVES — Derrick Dilworth knew he messed up when he was late for
practice Friday. So on Saturday the senior guard tried his best to make
up for it in the championship game of the 10th annual Webster Groves
Classic.
Dilworth scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and was
named the tournament's most valuable player after leading Webster Groves
to a 70-55 victory over rival Kirkwood at Roberts Gymnasium.
"I came late to the practice," Dilworth said. "I wanted to come in and
show Coach (Jay) Blossom that I didn't mean to. … I wanted to come in
and make them know we wanted to win, we wanted our championship back
from last year."
The No. 2 team in the Post-Dispatch large-school rankings, Webster
Groves (4-0) has won the tournament five times in the last six seasons.
Webster Groves had four players score in double figures Saturday: Junior
forward Jason Meehan had 15 points and 11 rebounds, senior guard Cortez
Conners had 12 points and six steals and junior guard Kendal Shell had
11 points.
But leading the way was Dilworth, a three-year starter who helped the
Statesmen win a state basketball championship as a sophomore and a state
football championship a few weeks ago as the team's quarterback.
Dilworth set the tone Saturday by scoring eight points in the first
quarter as the Statesmen took a 16-11 lead.
"I thought Derrick was really good tonight," Webster Groves coach Jay
Blossom said. "He played like a senior. He attacked the basket. He made
good decisions."
Kirkwood (3-1), which was led by sophomore Myles Artis (15 points) and
Hunter Ward (14), rallied early in the second quarter and tied the score
at 23 with 5 minutes, 12 seconds left in the half.
But then Webster Groves went on an 11-0 run, including five points from
Shell, and took a 34-25 lead into halftime. The hosts led by the same
nine-point margin after three quarters, 50-41.
"They have a good basketball team," Kirkwood coach Bill Gunn said. "They
have a veteran basketball team. I think we're still growing a little bit
and we have a lot of growing to do, but I thought there were a lot of
positives in that game and we'll try to build on those positives."
The Pioneers won't have to wait long for a rematch. Webster Groves will
play host to Kirkwood again at 7:45 p.m. this Friday.
Kirkwood beats Lee Summit North
| Lee's Summit North | 17 | 9 | 6 | 14 | 46 |
| Kirkwood | 8 | 11 | 11 | 19 | 49 |
by Katie Just
After defeating Maplewood in the first round of the Webster Classic tournament the Pioneers were looking to advance with a victory over another impressive team to advance to the championship game.
After a rough first quarter the Pioneers were trailing against the Broncos 17-8 and looking for a turning point in the game.
Throughout the rest of the game the score remained very close battling back and forth against Lee Summit. However, the Pioneers defensive bright spot was their ability to shut down the Broncos two leading scorers B.J. Dunbar who had 13 and Chase Salazar who had 12.
The Pioneers leading scorer was Hunter Ward with 17 points and then sophomore and second year returning varsity player Myles Artis with 12 points and proved to everyone that he was a force to be reckoned with underneath the hoop and when it came to rebounds.
The game remained very close and was going to be a battle until the end. In the last few seconds of the game Lee Summit had double-teamed Ward, leaving sophomore Ben Crancer open. Crancer took a pass from Mycole Pruitt, knocking down a go-ahead three pointer with 10 seconds remaining.
Lee Summit North attempted to make a long toss down the court but it was intercepted by senior Ahmad Hicks who was then fouled and headed to the free throw line with 2.3 seconds remaining. Hicks hit both free throws locking up the Pioneers victory 49-46 and advancing them to the championship game where they will play rival Webster Groves.
Kirkwood defeats defending State Champs Mapelwood
| Maplewood | 23 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 67 |
| Kirkwood | 25 | 13 | 25 | 12 | 75 |
by Katie Just
The Pioneers entered the tenth annual Webster Classic tournament hoping to improve on their third place finish a season ago.
In the opening round the Pioneers faced the defending State Champions and the defending Webster Classic Champions in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights Blue Devils.
The Pioneers were in a close battle all night with the Blue Devils, with the biggest point margin being only ten points in Kirkwood's favor at the end of the third quarter. The Pioneers did a lot of running against the Blue Devils having 25 turnovers to the Maplewood's 24.
The Pioneers strong point of the night however was their inside game where Mycole Pruitt lead the team with 28 points followed by Hunter Ward with 19 points.
The Pioneers once again out scored the Blue Devils every quarter of the game except the 4th were they were out scored 19-12. In the end the Pioneers defeated the Blue Devils 67-75 and advanced them in the tournament bracket.
Kirkwood defeats Rockwood Summit
| Summit | 9 | 7 | 8 | 26 | 50 |
| Kirkwood | 14 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 60 |
by Katie Just
With the anticipation for the Pioneers basketball season after last years district championship, the Pioneers pleased the large crowd in their home opener against the Rockwood Summit Falcons, defeating them 60-50.
The Pioneers proved to be very strong for the first game of the season, but the audience could tell it was the first game and there were things that needed to be worked out before the Webster Groves Classic Tournament the following week.
"First games always make coaches nervous, it is a great win under our belt as we prepare for the Webster tournament," Bill Gunn, head coach, said.
The Pioneers had 21 turnovers to Summits 20 but they managed to stay ahead thanks to senior, Hunter Ward who had 21 points and went 5-for-8 from the three point line. The Pioneers out scored the Falcons the first three quarter, however they were out scored 26-21 in the 4th quarter making the game a lot closer then anyone wanted to see.
The Pioneers had a hard tome defending Kevin Dwyer for the Falcons who scored 19 points but only went 2-8 from the three point line. The Pioneers have one thing that will work in their in advantage all year, they have a strong starting five and strong players that will add different strengths to the Pioneers game coming off the bench.
"Lawrence Williams gave us great minutes off the bench," Gunn, said.
Along with the Pioneers strong players coming off the bench they will look to their inside game lead by senior Mycole Pruitt as well who had 13 points against Summit.