Sometimes a coach just knows. They can feel it before their team gets to a game.
CJ Herbert had that feeling as his Eureka girls basketball team got on the bus and traveled to Clayton on an icy Monday night for a game between two Suburban Conference teams in separate pools.
The Greyhounds (5-6, Red pool) came into the game having won three straight games, and they jumped all over the Wildcats 12-0 and 14-4 as the fans were still arriving. Perhaps Eureka was still basking in its 58-40 Yellow pool win at Marquette (3-7) on Jan. 10.
“Before we even got here on the bus, I could feel that we weren’t into it,” Herbert said. “People had forgotten things. We talked about mental intensity from the very beginning and it wasn’t there. We had the huge win (against Marquette) so you get a little letdown. We practiced Sunday and it was so-so. Hopefully, lesson learned for us.”
Sophomore Lydia Lee made two early 3-point baskets and three in the first half for Clayton, but she finished with 11 points and was held scoreless in the second half.
But once the Wildcats started scoring, the barrage didn’t stop until they went on an epic 31-0 run between the first and second quarters before running away with a 71-40 victory.
Like the rest of her starting teammates, senior forward Jenna Cubbage (6-0) got off to a slow start, but she heated up and scored 13 of her season-high 15 points in the second and third quarters.
“We came out flat after the bus ride,” Cubbage said. “Our warmup wasn’t energetic. When (Herbert) pulled the starters out and we watched the game and going back in we had to fuel our fire and earn our playing time.”
Cubbage did a good job of grabbing offensive rebounds and getting second looks close to the goal. Midway through the second quarter she made consecutive baskets to give Eureka the lead for the first time and for good.
“I knew we were playing a shorter team, so I knew that around the post I had to score more frequently,” she said. “Typically, I get the ball with my back to the basket, so doing a drop step and going to my right or left worked best.”
Back-to-back baskets from downtown by junior forward Tessa Bauer (5-10) and junior guard Bailey Thebeau were part of the run. Bauer finished with 15 points, the first time this season she’s posted double digits. Junior guard Marleigh Allen sank three 3s and finished with 14 points and is tied with junior guard Mia Cuneio for the team lead this season with 12.7 points per game. Cuneio began the second-half scoring with a basket to give the Wildcats a 39-19 lead.
“We felt like we could get turnovers against Clayton. Jenna was big for us tonight. Marleigh was good again and has been on a good run. We were getting it from everywhere. We couldn’t convince (Thebeau) to shoot it early in the year, so finally the last five or six games, she’s giving us some 3s and that’s a huge lift for us to get points from other places other than Marleigh and Mia.”
After going 2-2 at the Visitation Tournament and falling at home 53-48 to MICDS on Jan. 3, Eureka needed a shot in the arm and got it against the Mustangs. The Wildcats weren’t accurate from the field (28.3 percent) but they were busy and sank 11 3s and 14 free throws. Allen was 9 of 12 from the free-throw line and scored a team-high 18 points to go with five steals and four assists. Cuneio had 14 points, seven boards and five steals.
“I feel we’re two evenly-matched teams. It turned on them,” Herbert said. “They jumped on us 5-0, but by the end of the first quarter we were up by four. They missed some shots they normally make and we hit a bunch and it snowballed on them. We had 21 offensive rebounds, which is a huge number. We shot 41 3s and we missed a lot, but we ran down a lot of rebounds. We played with a ton of energy in that game.”
Despite leading the Rams (8-1) going into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats couldn’t close out a team whose only defeat was to another 8-1 team, Fort Zumwalt West. Cuneio led the way for Eureka with 10 points, five rebounds and seven assists. She’s registered double-digit points in all but three games.
Eureka hosted KIPP St. Louis (5-1) on Wednesday after the Leader deadline. On Jan. 24 at home against Gateway STEM, the Wildcats will honor former head coach James Alsup, who died in May of 2024. Alsup guided Eureka to the Class 4 state championship in 2000.
Mustangs sink Wildcats in shootout
The boys basketball teams from Eureka and Marquette treated their fans to an old-fashioned barn-burner in a Suburban Conference Yellow pool game Jan. 10.
The visiting Wildcats (5-4, 0-1) and Mustangs (7-3, 1-0) combined to launch 110 shots before the hosts preserved a six-point lead at halftime for a 75-60 victory. Marquette blistered Eureka from 3-point range, making 10 of 20 attempts.
“We let their two best players (Alex Komorech and Brody Owen) get to their spots and score 43 of their 75 points,” Eureka head coach Austin Kirby said. “Brody made a bunch of tough shots that were hard to guard. He made tough 3s with a hand in his face. I have to credit him for making tough shots. (Komorech) made his free throws. It was a close game.
“I was proud of the way we fought through adversity. We hang our hats on defense and Marquette was able to score at will at times.”
Owen buried six treys and scored a game-high 22 points. Komorech was 11 of 15 from the free-throw line and had 21 points. Eureka made only eight of 20 free throws.
The Wildcats outrebounded Marquette 38-23 and 6-10 senior center Jack Cubbage posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Cubbage was one of four Eureka players to notch 10 or more points. Junior forwards John Haberkorn and Jaxson Joggerst led the Wildcats with 15 points each and junior guard Joe Rauls had 13.
“We came up short in a tough environment in front of a nice crowd,” Kirby said. “Jack’s not pleased with the way he shot from the free-throw line, but he’s really asserting himself as a defender and a rebounder and my thought is in the next two or three weeks we’ll get our sea legs and he’ll be in prime shape.”
Going into the Rotating Eight Tournament at Principia against Oakville on Tuesday, after the Leader deadline, Eureka had dropped three of its last four games. All four Wildcat defeats have come by eight points or less, with a pair of December losses to Lafayette (6-6) by a combined three points. The Lancers won 51-49 in Eureka and 47-46 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Holiday Classic at Maryville University.
“We’ve had close games that I’d like to have seen go our way,” Kirby said. “I feel like we should have won the Vianney game in the first overtime. The second time we played Lafayette, they made a desperation shot over our two best shot blockers. All things considered, we’re only nine games in. We have lots of games to play and lots of growth to go through.”
Joggerst led Eureka with 14 points in the second game against Lafayette. The Wildcats made just one of eight shots from behind the arc. Lafayette’s Drew Pickering scored 30 points combined in the two wins.
“Jaxson’s slowly playing a point forward,” Kirby said. “He got off to a slow start shooting but he’s been shooting well the past couple games. When he adds that third level to his game, he’s our best player. What I know about Jaxson is he plays his best in the biggest games.”
A matchup with undefeated Principia (12-0) in the Rotating Eight would qualify as a big game. There’s also the possibility of another game against Vianney (7-3); the Griffins beat the Wildcats 83-75 at Maryville and are led by Luke Walsh, the leading scorer in the St. Louis area with 34.6 points per game.
“It’s a new tournament for us,” Kirby said. “We got out of the Lindbergh Tournament because it feels like we play (the Flyers) and Westminster enough each year. Principia is one of the top teams in St. Louis with students from all over.”
Eureka began 2025 with a 59-52 win at Parkway North Jan. 3. The Vikings led by a point at halftime, but the Wildcats erupted for 41 points in the second half. Cubbage pulled down 10 rebounds and Haberkorn (13), Joggerst (13) and Rauls (12) scored in double figures.
“We got off to a bad start,” Kirby said. “To me that showed the characteristics of a good team. We got our defense going in the second half and that helped us score. We had balanced scoring and that makes us tough to guard.”
As for the Lafayette losses, Kirby said he hoped for another crack at the Lancers in the Class 6 District 2 tournament next month at Kirkwood.
“I felt the first game they were better than us and outplayed us. We were better in the second game and led 30 of 32 minutes, and they found a way to scrape out a win.”
Eureka girls face best at Wonder Woman, Ross
In the span of a week, the Eureka girls wrestling team went up against the best the state and surrounding states had to offer at the Wonder Woman in Columbia on Jan. 3-4 and closer to home at Lafayette for the Fred Ross Invitational on Jan. 11.
At WW, Broken Arrow and Bixby, teams from Oklahoma, finished first and second and 2024 Class 2 state champion Francis Howell Central came in third. Eureka was 11th with 106.5 points. Fourth at WW, Nixa, last year’s second-place finisher in Class 2, won Fred Ross with 263 points, the host Lancers were second with 191 and the Wildcats placed sixth with 120.
“It was not our best performance,” Eureka head coach Clayton Wegener said about FR. “Having one practice last week didn’t help. We wanted the girls to wrestle through tough conditions. It was a learning experience, especially in the middle of the season. It wasn’t the end all be all. I tried to get through the girls’ heads we still have a month and a half left.”
That’s at the Class 2 state championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia on Feb. 28-March 1. Eureka junior Mira Richardson wrestled there last season at 125 pounds. She improved to 14-3 after winning the 130 weight class with a technical fall and two pins at FR. Richardson pinned Lafayette junior Layla Gardner at 3:09 of the final. At WW, Richardson finished fourth at 130. She lost in the semifinals to undefeated Howell Central senior Kailey Benson (24-0), last year’s state champion at 120 and WW champion.
“Mira can beat anyone in the state when she’s on,” Wegener said. “She’s very skilled and dangerous. She can pin you when she wants. We want to keep her rolling.”
Eureka senior Addison Neumann (17-2) finished second at WW and FR at 235. Fifth in the state at 235 last season, she lost by tech fall to Lafayette junior Ella Kimbrough in the FR final and was pinned by Liberty junior Alexis Stinson (22-1) at WW. Stinson is a returning state qualifier at the weight and Kimbrough was sixth in the state at 190.
“The finals match (at WW) was winnable,” Wegener said. “It’s a mental thing we’ve got to get over. At Fred Ross, we beat (Kimbrough) and this week our head wasn’t in the game. We aren’t having the right focus and attitude going into each match. We can’t just pick and choose.”
Senior Mya Willis (15-3) only had to win one match at 155 to reach the semifinals at FR. She was pinned by Nixa sophomore Natalie Edmisson but came back to tech fall Lafayette junior Julia Dean to take third. A packed field at 155 at WW didn’t allow for any byes or breathers for Willis, who wrestled her way to the semifinals before falling in a 6-0 decision to Willard sophomore Ellie Higginbotham (18-1), who won the final 9-0.
Willis was one match away from the state medal round at 155 in 2024.
“Her semifinals match (against Edmisson) we weren’t ready to wrestle,” Wegener said. “I’m super excited to see how her season wraps up. I see a lot of improvement out of her.”
Also close to vying for a state medal last year, junior Kirra Dunscombe (15-2) stayed put at 115 and finished third at FR. At WW, Dunscombe won two matches on the consolation side of the bracket before falling out of medal contention. She was pinned in the semifinals at FR by Seckman senior Kaylee Horman (20-6), the FR champion. Dunscombe pinned Ladue junior Madeline Summers (17-5) to finish third.
“She wrestled fine all day (at FR). She was tied 3-3 against (Horman) and there’s a small position she has to work on in practice so that it doesn’t happen again. We tried to return (Horman) back to the mat and did it right on top of us. She’s an awesome kid who works her butt off.”
Wegener said he is seeing progress from senior Amini Phillip at 140. Phillip was sixth at FR.
“She’s not getting pinned as much as she did early in the season. She’s showing more fight.”
Junior Amara Vanderhoof (120) and senior Sydney Kiefer (145) are also improving.
“Sydney fights hard. Amara tries her best. We’re not winning every match but those girls fight.”
Eureka is at the Sherri Lance Tournament at Rockwood Summit on Friday.
Snow caused the cancellation of a visit by Jackson to Eureka for a boys dual Jan. 9. The Wildcats have only been on the mat once in 2025, a 43-33 loss at home Jan. 3 in a nonconference dual against De Soto of the Jefferson County Activities Association. Taybryn Geiler scored a 7-3 decision over Hunter Adams at 150. Adams (Class 3) is a returning state qualifier for the Dragons at 150.
Eureka’s boys were at Lafayette on Wednesday after deadline and are at St. Charles West on Saturday.