Success on the gridiron meant a delay in the development of the Festus High School boys basketball team, and the Tigers had a record of 3-3 after a 20-point loss to Jackson High.
But since Festus went to Park Hills and won the Bob Sechrest Jr. Christmas Tournament, the Tigers have a record of 13-4 and three consecutive victories against Jefferson County Activities Association (large-schools) teams – Hillsboro High, De Soto High and Perryville High – have them 5-0 in the conference and poised to claim its championship.
During its current four-game winning streak, Festus outscored its opponents by an average of 67.2-37.5. Not many teams can throw four double-digit scorers at defenses, but the Tigers have proven they can in most games. And they’re not just hanging onto the edge of 10 points per game.
Junior forward Nate Womack (6-8) averages 12.9 points, closely followed by 6-4 senior swingman Drew Johnson (12.3). An ace-in-waiting this spring for the school’s perennial state contending baseball team, senior Jackson Smith (11.9) has sunk a team-high 46 free throws. Junior Braydon Wilkes (10.7) is versatile enough to play on the wing or run the point and is among the team leaders with 25 three-point baskets.
“A lot of the better teams I’ve coached had two players like that,” said Festus head coach Dan Johnson, who guided Hillsboro to back-to-back district titles in 2017-28 with stars Michael Brewer and Gaven Pinkley. “To have four guys comfortably in double figures speaks to the talent of our team. They’re unselfish guys who don’t care who gets the credit.”
The day before a snowstorm blanketed the area, Festus traveled to Perryville and crushed the Pirates (1-3 in conference) 69-32. Womack scored the first six points of the game and finished with 18 and seven rebounds. Johnson turned in one of his most complete games of the season with 20 points (six 3-point baskets), seven assists and six rebounds. After Womack’s early baskets, Johnson nailed two 3s to punch the lead to 12-0.
Since an EF-2 tornado struck and damaged Perryville High last March, the Pirates sports teams have had to move home games to other accommodations. The conference game was played at the Perry Park Center, about a half mile from the high school.
The other two most recent large-schools wins for the Tigers were a 60-29 win at De Soto (3-13, 0-4) on Jan. 20 and 66-47 at Hillsboro (8-9, 2-3) on Jan. 16. Festus pulled away from the Hawks with a 28-8 surge in the fourth.
“It didn’t feel like 28-8 in the fourth because we’d been fighting from behind,” said Dan, Drew’s father. “We were playing from behind all night, took a lead in the fourth – Wilkes makes a corner 3 – we grabbed the momentum and Jackson had an incredible game. We strung together some stops and made some free throws.”
Smith scored a team-high 25 points, the most since he notched a season-high 26 against Farmington High in the Sechrest Jr. tournament. Brendan Poyner (15 points) and Cooper McGrath (13) led the Hawks, who made only two of 16 shots from beyond the arc.
Festus hosts unbeaten Bunker High (19-0) on Friday night. Bunker’s head coach is Rod Gorman, who led Festus to the Class 3A state championship in 1991. It was Gorman’s only season as the head coach of the Tigers and it remains the only boys or girls state title in county history.
The players and coaches from the 1991 team didn’t receive rings, but they will be presented to them at a special ceremony between the JV and varsity games.
Blue Jays split JCAA games
Jefferson High is the last team to beat Festus and improved to 11-7 following a 72-42 conference win at Herculaneum High (6-8) on Jan. 23.
Junior Colton Broadwater made 11 field goals and scored 23 points to lead the Blue Jays, who are 1-1 in the small-schools division. The balanced Jefferson attack included junior Blayne Wilson, who scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth, and senior Noah Buehler’s 11 points. Jefferson made six 3s in all. Senior Cooper Frisk had nine points, five assists and six steals.
“(Frisk) was filling it up for us on the stat sheet,” Jefferson head coach Tyler Search said. “We had a nice run in the third quarter and that’s when our ignition started. It took us a bit to get going.”
Herculaneum is lead by senior point guard Tanner Duncan, who averages 20 points per game. It was Buehler’s job to guard Duncan.
“I thought he did a really nice job,” Search said. “Tanner got free a couple times, and when Noah was out, we put (sophomore) Jack Klump in that role. Those guys take pride in their defense.”
St. Vincent (11-4) currently leads the JCAA small-schools division at 2-0 after beating the visiting Blue Jays 64-57 on Jan. 20. The Indians drained eight 3s and senior Max Wheeler burned Jefferson with 28 points, 13 boards and nine free throws in 10 attempts. Watson was on fire with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“He’s kind of like a gym rat. Workhorse,” Search said of Watson. “Hard to keep him out of the gym and that’s a great problem to have as a coach. He’s getting to the rim more; he’s not just a 3-point shooter.
“The game against St. Vincent was back and forth. It felt like we couldn’t get over that four-point (deficit) hump. Anytime we tried to make a play, something would go wrong. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple times and they made key shots and we didn’t. We were 3 for 20 from 3-point range and that’s not like us. If we’re anywhere close to what we normally shoot from there, we could have had success.”
Jefferson tonight hosts Scott City (13-3), which is in the midst of a six-game winning streak. The Blue Jays played Scott City during summer ball.
“They have a couple of guys who can score at will,” Search said. “They like to run zone and go into a matchup-2. They can be confusing to play.”
Fox falls flat on Senior Night
As long as Fox High boys basketball head coach Chris Miller sees his players give out the effort they have and keep their heads up even after losses, he’s seeing progress.
Trailing Poplar Bluff High (5-5) by 25 points in the second quarter of their home game Jan. 23, the Warriors (4-14) cut the deficit to seven points before finally succumbing to the Mules 69-52.
Miller said his players seemed to be caught under the spell of the pomp and circumstance of Senior Night.
“We played well in the first quarter. The second quarter hurt us,” Miller said. “We took quick shots, our defense wasn’t as active as we needed it to be, and we weren’t rebounding very well. In the fourth, I thought we played well but we didn’t convert opportunities that could have gotten us the win. The positive takeaway was the demeanor in the locker room that is so much different when you expect to win.”
In a game between two Suburban Conference teams in separate pools Jan. 20, Fox (Blue) fell 59-56 to Oakville High (Red). Junior Jude Pribish made 11 of 26 shots from the field to lead the Warriors with 28 points, the fourth consecutive game he’s scored 22 or more points.
“Our offense struggled and we relied heavily on Jude in the first half,” Miller said. “If we had more time, the outcome could have been different. The demeanor afterward was we thought we let one get away.”
Fox beat Normandy 56-53 in a Blue pool game Jan. 16. Pribish led the way with 24 points and 13 boards.
“It was a game where we had to overcome a lot of adversity,” Miller said. “We didn’t play at (Normandy) and had to play a neutral-site game. It was physical on both sides. We beat them last year by forfeit and we felt we didn’t earn it. We had an 11-point lead at halftime and they made a run in the third. We battled to keep the lead and our defense closed it out at the end. They play a lot of good schools.”
Fox hosts Blue pool leader Clayton High (12-6, 3-0) tonight.