Tournament of Champions pairings announced

Hillcrest, Glendale are two area representatives

January 04, 2012|by Joe Hickman

On Wednesday the pairings for this year's Bass Pro Tournament of Champions were announced. The event, considered one of the top five high school tourneys in the country, runs from Thursday-Saturday, January 12-15, at the JQH Arena on the Missouri State campus.

Reserved tickets are $36 for all three days or $12 for a single day. General admission tickets are $10 for a single day adult, $7 for a single day student. Thursday and Friday the games start at 5 p.m. with four games each night. On Saturday the games start at 2 p.m. with the championship taking place at 6:30 p.m.

On Thursday's opening day the first game features St. Rita high school out of Chicago taking on Miller Grove from Lithonia, Georgia. The Georgia school has won a state championship in each of the past three years, was raned #2 in the nation in ESPN's pre-season poll, and features 6-8 forward Tony Parker, who's been on the USA Global Challenge Team and is being recruited by Duke, Ohio State, UCLA and Memphis. St. Rita's features five players who have been recruited or have signed with Division I schools.

That 5 o'clock game is followed at 6:30 p.m. by the Springfield Hillcrest-San Diego Lincoln match-up. Hillcrest of course featuring Dorial Green-Beckham, the number one football recruit in the nation. Lincoln, who was ranked 10th in the nation last year, features 6-4 guard Tyree Robinson, who's being recruited by Arizona, Oklahoma, Stanford, Texas, USC, and UCLA as well as his brother, Tyrell Robinson, also a 6-4 guard, recruited by many of the same schools.

At 8 p.m. Sylvan Hills, Arkansas faces Christ the King, New York. The Middle Village, New York team is a six-time T of C winner making its 14th appearance in the tournament. They were ranked 14th in the country in pre-season polls and they feature 6-2 guard Omar Cahloun, a future member of the national champion UConn Huskies, as well as 6-3 guard Isiah Lewis, ranked #52 on the list of Rivals top recruits. Sylvan Hills, a state runner-up last season, has the #12 ranked top recruit on Rivals list, 6-4 guard Archie Goodwin who's committed to Kentucky.

The final game of the opening round at 9:30 p.m. sends Springfield Glendale against Houston Westbury Christian. The Texas school has won 16 state titles over the past 21 years and features Baylor-bound L.J. Rose, a 6-3 guard who's a member of the USA Developmental team. Glendale is one of the area's top teams this season coming off a 23-4 mark last year.

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