This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

St. Peters' Teams Ready for Sectional Matchups

Howell Central girls and Zumwalt South boys set to begin next round of playoffs on Wednesday night.

Despite early struggles, the basketball team heads into Sectionals on a high note. 

After finishing play in the St. Dominic Tournament during the Christmas holiday, the Bulldogs sported a 2-7 record. South heads into the Class 5 Sectional at Maryville University in St. Louis on a four game winning streak with wins over Howell North (68-45), St. Charles (57-51), Fort Zumwalt East (61-46), and Howell Central (58-48). The Bulldogs have won nine of their last 10 games and currently have a 16-11 record. 

The Bulldogs are scheduled take on McCluer North (24-1) tonight at 7:30 p.m.  North is Missouri’s top Class 5 team. 

Find out what's happening in St. Peterswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“They’re a very talented and athletic team,” South coach Bill Friedel said about McCluer North. “They present a big challenge, but we’ll put together a game plan and fight with all that we have.” 

Senior guard George Cater leads the Bulldogs’ offense, as he averages 13.9 points per game. Cater has been a starting player since his sophomore year and recently passed over 1,000 career points. 

Find out what's happening in St. Peterswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We set a lot of our plays through him,” Friedel said on Cater. “He has more assists this year, you can talk about his scoring, but he’s really out best ball handler.” 

Friedel said his team is playing much better team basketball than at the beginning of the season, but he also mentioned a change in his team’s offense as well as a solid defense. 

“We’re playing a more guard-oriented offense now,” he said. “At the beginning of the season we were attacking the middle. But our defense is also a lot better. We’re pressing a lot more at the beginning of a game. We’re playing some man (to man) and also some match-up-zone.” 

The Francis Howell Central Lady Spartans head into the girls Class 5 Sectional at Maryville University on a three game winning streak with two victories over Howell North (41-28), (37-25) and a win over Fort Zumwalt South (42-25).

Howell Central lost its starting point guard Jazmine Davis around Christmas time to a leg injury, said Ricker. Davis was averaging 7.1 points per game. In addition, Howell Central lost its second leading scorer Kristen Warncke before the season to a torn ACL, according to Ricker.

“The key to our team is defense,” Lady Spartans Coach Brian Ricker said. “We’ve been holding most of our opponents to around 35 points this season.” 

In Davis’ absence Junior Katy Gerler has been playing point guard. She’s averaged 6.6 points per game. Ricker calls Gerler “quick” and “a good defender.”  

Howell Central has compiled a 19-9 record in the 2011-2012 campaign. Sharese Jones leads the Lady Spartans’ offense this year, as she averages 19.8 points per game.     

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from St. Peters