Holiday Tournament Recap: The Best Of

After a full week of watching holiday tournament action via the Prep Hoops Missouri Magical Stream Machine, it’s time to wrap up the week-long recap my “Best Of” awards.

Best Individual Performance: Sam Thompson Sam Thompson 6'10" | PF Francis Howell | 2021 State MO (Francis Howell) – The 6’10 2021 forward had a career night against O’Fallon-Christian at the Round Robin Tournament hosted by both schools. He had 55 points, 18 rebounds, five blocked shots and six 3-pointers in a 71-63 victory. It was a masterpiece performance put on when his team was short-handed.

Best Shooting Performance: Leroy Atkins (Sikeston) and Brad Schram (Smithville) – The 6’2 Atkins made eight 3-pointers and scored 41 points in a victory over Holt in the third-place game of the St. Dominic Tournament. The 6’2 Schram made seven 3-pointers, including five in the fourth quarter in the championship game of the LeBlond Tournament against St Michael the Archangel.

Most Impressive Team: (Hartville) – The Eagles repeated as Blue Division champions of the Blue & Gold Division and they did it in convincing fashion. They won all four of their games by double digits, including a 57-46 victory over a very good Nixa team in the championship game. The senior laden team was paced by Ryce Piper Ryce Piper 6'2" | PG Hartville | 2021 State MO , Braden Branstetter Braden Branstetter 6'3" | SG Hartville | 2021 State MO and Cody Mahan.

Best Game: St. Michael the Archangel vs Smithville – The championship game of the Smithville Tournament was a high scoring affair that featured tremendous 3-point shot making from start to finish by both teams. A great game had a fitting ending when 2022 guard Deuce Roberts Deuce Roberts 6'6" | SG St. Michael | 2022 State MO of SMA dribbled the length of the floor and made a short jumper at the buzzer to give the Guardians a 76-75 victory for the championship.

Most Dramatic Shot: Deuce Roberts Deuce Roberts 6'6" | SG St. Michael | 2022 State MO (St. Michael the Archangel- See Above.
  Braden Appelhans Braden Appelhans 6'6" | SG Blue Springs | 2022 OH (Blue Springs) – The 6’6 2021 guard sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 62-59 overtime victory over Kearney at the William Jewell Classic Patterson Division. Blue Springs went on to win the championship with Appelhans earning MVP honors.

Biggest Upset: (Kelly) – The SE Missourian Christmas Tournament is usually the domain of the big schools from the SEMO Conference, particularly Cape Girardeau, Cape Notre Dame, Charleston and Jackson. Kelly broke that up a little bit when they upset Jackson in the quarterfinals to advance to the Final Four. Led by standouts Joel McClain and the Gavin Jansen were able to crash the party.

Best Individual Play: Brock Wakefield Brock Wakefield 6'4" | SG South Iron | 2021 State MO (South Iron) – In the championship game of the Bob Sechrest Jr Tournament at Park Hills Central, the 2021 guard made a tremendous defensive play against the host Rebels. He darted into the passing lanes and deflected a pass. As the ball headed out of bounds, he chased it down and saved it with a brilliant behind the back pass to a sprinting DJ Prater for a layup and a three-point play.

Best Comeback: (Forsyth) – In the semifinals of the Morris Brothers Tournament at Walnut Grove, Forsyth rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to defeat Billings and earn a spot in the championship game.

Best Individual Duel: In the semifinals of the Bob Sechrest Jr Tournament at Park Hills Central, the individual battle between 2021 guard Kyle Conkright Kyle Conkright 5'10" | SG Ellington | 2021 State MO of North County and 2024 guard Jobe Bryant of Park Hills Central was tremendous. Conkright scored 34 points while Bryant scored 36 points in leading the Rebels to the victory.

Best Off-Court Performance: First, all of the school workers who put in the extra time and effort to sanitize the playing venues around the state to ensure that the kids were able to play in these holiday tournaments and their families and friends could watch the game in a safe environment. 
 Second, I want to salute Greg Kastner, who was the public address announcer at the LeBlond Tournament. Kestner enjoyed a legendary baseball coaching career at LeBlond. He is very descriptive and entertaining on the mic at LeBlond basketball events.