Wildcats charge back to win in Wildwood
Austin Kirby has a new favorite Christmas movie.
No, it’s not one of the most commonly watched movies this time of year, like, “A Christmas Story” or “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
It’s the film of the Eureka High School boys basketball team’s improbable 56-53 comeback victory against Lafayette High in Wildwood on Dec. 18 that understandably lifted the holiday spirits of Kirby, the head coach of the Wildcats.
“I’ve watched it three times. It’s inspirational,” Kirby said two days after unbeaten Eureka brought the Hwy. 109 Cup back to its trophy case and ran its record to 4-0. The Lancers won 51-49 in Eureka last year. The two teams could meet again in the Class 6 District 2 tournament at Marquette High in March. Lafayette is the defending district champion.
As is typical of a movie’s screenplay, the game between the two intra-district rivals had three acts. In the opening act, the setting and crowd played their part, filling the Lafayette gym with students and alums, and providing the soundtrack and background. The action in act 2 saw the Lancers confound the Wildcats and surge to a 31-11 lead by halftime. A hero always emerges in the final act, and senior forward John Haberkorn (6-4) played the part scoring 19 of his 23 points in the second half.
One of the top bench players in the St. Louis area last season, Haberkorn is already performing like one of the best starters.
“John turned into the guy only he can be and he was unstoppable. He was a freight train,” Kirby said. “What he does in a game, he does every day in practice. The only person who can guard John is (6-6 senior forward Jaxson Joggerst). They make each other better players.”
The Wildcats had a hard time guarding the Lancers (4-3) in the first half.
“They were getting to the basket and the game went at their pace,” Kirby said.
Not a lot was going right for the Wildcats when they went to the locker room at halftime.
“We had a few adjustments to make but we got into this problem and we can get out of it,” Kirby said. “We’re a team built on defense and we have the ability to give up five to eight points in a quarter and if we do that, we’ll win most of the time.”
Eureka outscored Lafayette 21-7 in the third quarter to take a one-point lead. Joggerst had a steal and a dunk, and assisted on senior guard Joe Rauls’ basket-and-1. Joggerst went coast-to-coast with junior guard Tyler Sweeney, who took his pass and sank a 3-point basket to give the Wildcats a 39-38 lead.
The Eureka fans went bananas. The tide had turned in favor of the Wildcats.
“There’s a tidal wave of momentum that can only be felt in high school basketball,” Kirby said. “It’s a game of runs and we could feel it. Our student section was raucous and Lafayette couldn’t stop it.”
Lafayette scored the first four points of the fourth to take a one-point lead. Haberkorn scored, and senior Drew Mohesky made a 3, but the Lancers answered right back from downtown.
Eureka’s comeback was made possible because of its seven steals in the third quarter.
“We needed extra possessions,” Kirby said. “Our kids were so tired and we’re extremely deep and we leaned on that. We got Jaxson, John and (senior forward Bodie Wilken 6-4, 230) out for stretches.”
Eureka’s aggressive play in the second half led many times to the free-throw line, where Rauls was 9-of-11 and the Wildcats made 21 in the final 16 minutes.
“That allowed us to set up pressure, sub and dictate the pace,” Kirby said. “We were trying to speed them up. We were able to play with the matchups we wanted because of our attacking nature. Every time they’d hand check us or go over the back, we shot more free throws.”
Rauls scored a game-high 25 points in Eureka’s 56-39 win at Parkway Central High on Dec. 12. The Wildcats penned up the Colts in the first half by allowing eight points. Joggerst and Haberkorn each scored 10 points.
“Joe scored from all three levels. He was pretty unstoppable,” Kirby said. “Their emphasis was to try and limit John and Jaxson. They also tried to clog up the lane with their big player.”
Eureka begins play Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Coaches for Cancer Tournament at Maryville University as the No. 5 seed against Lutheran South (No. 12). Unbeaten De Smet (5-0) is the top seed and plays Mehlville (16) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Cats bounce Lancers, shocked by Chargers
Whether it’s playing basketball or volleyball, Lauren Ortwerth is really good at sports with nets.
Tennis anyone?
All-state in volleyball (Class 5) and basketball (Class 6) at Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis, Ortwerth signed this month to play volleyball at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, which competes in Division I.
The 6-0 forward on the basketball court scored 13 points in the first quarter, 19 by halftime and finished with a game-high 23 in the Chargers’ 57-39 victory against Eureka High in the first round of the 51st Visitation Academy Christmas Tournament on Dec. 20. The unbeaten Chargers improved to 7-0, while the Wildcats are at .500 (4-4) going into Christmas. Eureka plays Parkway West on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the consolation quarterfinals. Cor Jesu, which smothered the host Vivettes 63-15 in their matchup before the tournament, plays Belleville East on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
“She’s (Ortwerth) a load in the post and created a lot of problems. They were faster than us which doesn’t happen to us pretty often,” Eureka head coach CJ Herbert said. “They (Chargers) hadn’t played solid competition yet so I wasn’t really sure how good they were and they were considerably better than I thought and they pretty much dominated us. They played us so hard defensively we were having a hard time functioning and that forced us to make a bunch of turnovers.”
In the first quarter, Eureka led Cor Jesu 19-17 on the strength of two 3-point baskets by senior forward Tessa Bauer and a trey by senior guard Bailey Thebeau. Bauer and Thebeau didn’t score any more points after that.
By halftime, the Wildcats trailed 38-27.
“We couldn’t get into a set because they defended so hard,” Herbert said.
Cor Jesu junior point guard Maddie DiMaria was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in soccer last spring, and DiMaria is committed to playing soccer at the University of North Carolina. Herbert was impressed with her defensive intensity, and she scored six of her nine points in the second half.
Eureka senior guard Marleigh Allen has scored 20 or more points in three games, and 18 and 19 points in two others, but the Chargers limited her to seven points, two in the second half.
Allen’s offensive effort has been augmented by senior guard Mia Cuneio. Both players are averaging 16 points per game. Cuneio sank a 3-pointer in the first quarter, and didn’t score again against Cor Jesu.
“They work well together,” Herbert said of his senior guards. “Marleigh can get it to the basket at a good pace. If people don’t help off Mia, Marleigh kicks it to Mia and Mia’s been hurting people. They kind of need each other to score. If you take one out, it makes it really hard on the other.”
Allen, who has signed to play soccer at Missouri State University in Springfield, leads the Wildcats with 4.5 assists per game.
“My bet is most of those are off Cuneio baskets,” Herbert said. “We depend on Marleigh a lot to handle the basketball. She goes fast in transition and makes good decisions.”
Herbert said the pace the Chargers played was too fast for his younger players. Freshmen Chloe Dorsey (guard) and Heidi Garrett (forward) are getting their first exposure to varsity basketball. Dorsey scored all seven of her points in the fourth quarter and Garrett made two 3s and finished with nine points.
At 5-8, junior guard Layla Jackson gives up a lot of size most nights up against posts from 6-1 to 6-4.
“She is really doing a great job,” Herbert said. “She took a couple of great charges that weren’t called (against Cor Jesu). I appreciate how hard she plays. There’s not many post players that make many six- or seven-foot shots.”
Before starting play in the Viz tournament, the Wildcats beat Ursuline Academy 61-46 Dec. 16 and brought home the Hwy. 109 Cup after beating Lafayette High 46-35 Dec. 18. Allen led Eureka with 20 points against the Lancers, but the Wildcats made just two of 19 shots from 3-point range. Allen (19) and Cuneio (18) led Eureka in scoring against the Bears.
“We played OK against Lafayette, but they did a good job defending us,” Herbert said.
Herbert said the emotional win over their intra-district rivals didn’t have any bearing against Cor Jesu.
“It wasn’t a letdown. We played hard. We’re just not capable of playing at that speed. Not many (teams) are. We played great against a good Ursuline team. That was a really good win.”
Eureka wins weight classes at FZE Tournament
Mira Richardson’s chance to win her first state wrestling medal popped in the “bubble round” at 130 pounds at the Class 2 championships at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia in March.
There’s more than one nickname for the third consolation round that either causes elation or motivation for next season, and in Richardson’s case, it’s the latter. Eureka head coach Clayton Wegener said Richardson put in the offseason work to be a state champion. There’s a long way to go before this season’s state tournament, but Richardson got an early test of that caliber of competition at the Fort Zumwalt East Invitational in St. Peters on Dec. 19.
St. Charles West High won the girls team competition with 165 points and the Wildcats were second with 161. The boys tournament was Dec. 20 and De Soto High of the Jefferson County Activities Association won with 201 points. Fort Zumwalt South High was second with 141 and Eureka was third with 129.
Richardson pinned all four of her opponents at 140 to improve to 12-0. In the final, she pinned Festus High senior Dani Gullet, who was third in the state in Class 1 at 140 pounds, in 37 seconds.
“I was excited for the challenge,” Richardson said about facing Gullet. “I knew it was going to be a hard match. I did a sweep, single, double and pinned her with a barbed wire. I didn’t expect (a quick pin), obviously. I want to be able to do that at the state matches. This will build my confidence.”
Before the tournament, Richardson said something just wasn’t right.
“I think the pressure was getting to me. I want to use that as my motivation this year. I don’t want (losing in the “bubble round) to happen again. This sounds cliché, but I want to do the best I can in every match. Win or lose.”
Sophomore Mia Fijan won the Wildcats’ other championship at Zumwalt East at 100. Fijan (10-2) pinned all three opponents in a combined time of 1:06.
Senior Kirra Dunscombe, a two-time state qualifier, and fifth at 115 last season, finished second at 115 at FZE. Dunscombe (10-2) also beat a state medalist during the tournament when she won a 6-2 decision against De Soto junior Cheyenne Kincade (13-1) in the semifinals. Roxana, Ill. senior Chloe Skiles (10-1) pinned Dunscombe at 3:29 in the final.
Eureka’s other top finishers at FZE were senior Amara Vanderhoof (sixth, 125), junior Keanna George (fourth, 145), sophomore Emma Gaeta (third, 170) and junior Haley Sims (fifth, 190).
Eureka senior Connor Stephans (14-1), a Class 4 state qualifier at 126 last season, won the FZE championship at 138 against Oakville senior Blake Habel (15-1) with an 11-4 decision in the final.
“He got the first points, but I didn’t let that faze me,” Stephans said. “The first few matches, I was focusing on my takedowns and building up to that finals match. The past few years (at FZE), I haven’t made the finals so finally making it was a pretty big deal. It was cool to win and help my team get third.”
Stephans said he’ll stay at 138 for the remainder of the season.
A state qualifier at 285 last season, Eureka junior Noah McCollum (14-2) won the heavyweight championship at FZE with four pins.
Two Wildcat juniors finished second at FZE. Noah Morris pinned his first opponent at 120 in 12 seconds, and won by tech fall and fall before being pinned by Lutheran St. Charles sophomore Caleb Dyer at 1:23 of the final. After pinning his first opponent at 1:05 and winning by tech fall next, Braxton Vanderveen reached the 144 finals after taking a 9-6 decision against St. Clair senior Cole Horton. Vanderveen scored a takedown and escape in the third period. Windsor senior Max Coerver (13-0) won an 11-4 decision over Vanderveen (8-6) in the final.