The girls' basketball Holiday tournament season began early, with Valmeyer coming in sixth and Metro-East Lutheran Eighth in the Waterloo Gibault Catholic Candy Cane Classic, while Civic Memorial and Edwardsville both lost in the quarterfinals of the Visitation Christmas Tournament, the St. Louis area's biggest event of its kind, on Sunday.
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Meanwhile, other Holiday tournaments involving the Riverbender.com area schools start up on Monday, marking the return of the Holiday tournament season after many of the tournaments were canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Visitation Academy tournament in Town and Country, Mo., CM, playing in the tournament for the first time ever, won their opening-round game Dec. 18 over Parkway South 68-45, while the Tigers won their opener over Parkway North 62-25. In the quarterfinals, played on Sunday night, the Eagles lost for the first time this season, falling to Whitfield of west St. Louis County 52-28, while Edwardsville lost to Eureka 60-52.
In the CM-Whitfield game, the Eagles led after the first quarter 9-8, but the Warriors went up at halftime 27-17, then extended the lead to 40-24, outscoring CM in the fourth quarter 12-5 to take the win.
Aubree Wallace led the Eagles with seven points, while Avari Combes had five points, Olivia Durbin, Maya Tuckson and Kelbie Zupan all had four points each and both Hannah Meiser and Emily Williams scored two points each.
In the game between Eureka and Edwardsville, the Wildcats jumped to a 17-11 first quarter lead, then led at halftime 26-21, with the Tigers coming back to tie the game 39-39 after three quarters. Eureka then outscored Edwardsville 21-13 to get the win and advance to the semifinals.
Syd Harris led the way for the Tigers with 21 points, while Elle Evans had 13 points, Emma Garner and Macy Silvey each had eight points and Ashlyn Hauk scored four points.
Whitfield is now 7-1 on the year, while CM goes to 13-1. Eureka is now 8-1, with Edwardsville falling to 10-4. The Eagles and Tigers face each other in a fifth-place semifinal game Monday at 5:30 p.m.
In the Gibault Candy Cane Classic, held Dec. 13-18, in the first round on Dec. 13, Valmeyer lost to Waterloo 58-25, while Metro-East lost their opener to Red Bud 34-14 on Dec. 14. In the consolation semifinals, the Pirates won over New Athens 41-40 on Dec. 15, while the Knights lost to Chester 48-37 on Dec. 16.
In the seventh-place game played on Dec. 18, New Athens defeated Metro-East 42-28, and in the fifth-place game, Chester won over Valmeyer 56-23. Waterloo won the title game over Red Bud 62-28.
Here's a look at the remainder of the area's girls Holiday tournaments this week:
BENTON CHRISTMAS CLASSIC
Marquette Catholic is the area's lone team playing at the Benton Christmas Classic, and opens up this evening at 6:30 p.m. against Harrisburg. The quarterfinals will be played on Tuesday, with the semifinals set for Wednesday afternoon and the tournament final is set for Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.
CARLINVILLE HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Greenfield Northwestern and Hardin Calhoun will be joining the host Cavaliers in the Carlinville Holiday Tournament, starting on Monday.
The Tigers and Cavvies are together in the Green Group, and Northwestern opens against Gillespie Monday at 12 noon, while Carlinville plays Nokomis at 6 p.m. On Tuesday, the Tigers and Cavaliers play each other at 4:30 p.m., and on Wednesday, Northwestern meets Nokomis at 12 noon, while Carlinville finishes group play against Gillespie, also at 12 noon.
The Warriors are in the Red Group with Williamsville, Raymond Lincolnwood, and South County, and meet up with the Bullets Monday at 12 noon, then plays South County Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., and concludes group play against the Lancers on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
The final is set for Thursday at 6 p.m.
CHRIST OUR ROCK WINTERFEST
Staunton and Father McGivney Catholic will be playing in the inaugural Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran Winterfest tournament, and both teams start play on Monday.
The Bulldogs meet the Anna-Jonesboro junior varsity at 12:30 p.m., while the Griffins face Madison in their opener at 3:30 p.m. The quarterfinals of the tournament are set for Tuesday, the semifinals will be played on Wednesday and the final is set for Thursday at 8 p.m.
INAUGURAL RED BUD CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT
Both Roxana and East Alton-Wood River will be playing in the inaugural Red Bud Christmas Tournament that begins on Monday with the group stage.
The Shells and Oilers are both in Group A, along with Waterloo, Chester, and the host Musketeers, with Roxana opening up against Waterloo at 10:30 a.m., then then the Shells meet EAWR at 4 p.m., while the Oilers play their second game of the day at 9 p.m. against the hosts. On Tuesday, Roxana meets up with Chester at 2 p.m., while EAWR plays Waterloo at 5 p.m. On the final day of the group stage on Wednesday, Roxana meets the Musketeers at 11 a.m, while the Oilers take on Chester at 5 p.m.
Group B consists of Carlyle, Belleville Althoff Catholic, Columbia, Gibault, and Marissa-Coulterville.
The final is set for Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
JERSEY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Havens Gym will be the setting for a five-team, round-robin Jersey Holiday Tournament, where the Panthers will host Taylorville, Gateway Legacy Christian of Florissant, Mo., Triad, and Carrollton.
The tournament begins Monday with Taylorville meeting Gateway Legacy at 4:30 p.m., and Jersey playing Carrollton at 6 p.m. On Tuesday, in an afternoon session, Taylorville meets Triad at 1:30 p.m., while the Panthers meet Gateway Legacy at 3 p.m. Triad and Carrollton square off at 4:30 p.m., and Taylorville plays Jersey at 6 p.m. On the final day on Wednesday, Gateway Legacy plays Triad at 1:30 p.m., Carrollton goes against Taylorville at 3 p.m., it'll be Triad and Jersey at 4:30 p.m, with the final game pitting Carrollton and Gateway Legacy at 6 p.m.
MASCOUTAH INVITATIONAL
Alton, East St. Louis, and Highland will play in the Mascoutah Invitational this week, which has already seen one team withdraw, as Cahokia dropped out of the tournament.
The Redbirds will receive a 2-0 forfeit win over the Comanches and will start play on Tuesday in the quarterfinals against the winner of the game between Belleville West and the O'Fallon junior varsity, with the tip coming at 8:30 a.m. Meanwhile, East Side plays against Breese Central at 11:30 a.m. and Highland goes against Okawville in the final game of the first round at 7 p.m.
The quarterfinals are set for Tuesday morning, with the semifinals set for Tuesday evening. The final will be played late Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.
45TH DUCHESNE CATHOLIC HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Granite City will again be the lone Illinois representative in the 45th Duchesne Catholic Holiday Tournament in St. Charles, Mo., and will meet Notre Dame Catholic in their opener Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
The semifinals are set for Wednesday afternoon, with the final going off on Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
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