ADVERTISEMENT

St. Dominic Christmas tournament


This tournament has 8 teams. Only three teams have a winning record. Sikeston should have no trouble winning this tournament. Sikeston should get 2 maybe 3 clock jobs before returning back to southeast Missouri. Sikeston is way to good for this group and has won 29 out of 30 game since discovering their opportunities @ St. Dominic and Zum. North.

I believe St. Dominic also has a girls Christmas tournament as well which could create some excitement.

Sikeston------------------5-0
Luth. St. Charles-------3-7

Zum. West--------------5-2
Holt-----------------------2-5

Zum. South------------3-4
Parkway North--------0-7

Timberland------------5-2
St. Dominic------------2-6
 
I have no idea why Sikeston keeps coming up here I guess it is a good workout. Those
teams are not very good year in and year out. Timberland was decent last year, every
so often Ft. Zumwalt will have an okay team. Lutheran way over their head every year.
Parkway North is never good. Holt always avg. St. Dominic good every 4 years. Lot
better competition in boot hill.
 
I think we like seeing St Louis style refs more than anything in SEMO it's push and shove and a lot of hand check , when we go to STL it seems like a lot of touch fouls and we have to get use to that more than anything.
 
I have no idea why Sikeston keeps coming up here I guess it is a good workout. Those
teams are not very good year in and year out. Timberland was decent last year, every
so often Ft. Zumwalt will have an okay team. Lutheran way over their head every year.
Parkway North is never good. Holt always avg. St. Dominic good every 4 years. Lot
better competition in boot hill.
Boot heel, boot hill is for dead folks. :)
 
Not speaking for the team or the school....the Dogs, first, like the hospitality shown by St Dominic. The administration is very nice to our kids and fans. They run a first class tournament. Second, the Christmas tournaments in southeast Missouri all feature teams in our conference...and we just finished our conference tournament..,,no need to play the same teams again. Third, the competition is better than you guys think. Zum South is usually VERY good and very well coached, Holt was really good our first year up there, Timblerland has some good teams, Parkway South had a good team a couple years ago and St Dom had a good team last year or a year ago. Sikeston has played well in this tourney, but it's far from a cakewalk.
 
Someone mentioned the Zum North tourney...Helias is in this year...they are ranked in the top 5 of Class 4. Ritenour has a good team, Zum North had a couple good teams.... This is no easy tournament for the Dogs since we travel every day. It's a good tournament too....
 
Someone mentioned the Zum North tourney...Helias is in this year...they are ranked in the top 5 of Class 4. Ritenour has a good team, Zum North had a couple good teams.... This is no easy tournament for the Dogs since we travel every day. It's a good tournament too....

Rocket, Sikeston has won 29 out of 30 games while playing @ St. Dominic and Zum. North. I will disagree with you on the talent in the above tournaments. There will be no competition in St. Charles county for the Bulldogs. These victories ( I am predicting 35 out 36 after this year ) will not help the Sikeston Bulldogs defeat teams like Chaminade and Vashon who the Dogs will meet in the Quarter-final of class 4 latter in the season.

Rocket, we only have 7-8 teams in St. Louis who can compete or defeat the Sikeston Bulldogs this year and none will be playing in St. Charles county. Sikeston maybe to good for the 16 teams @ MICDS Christmas Tournament as well. The Coaches for Cancer Christmas Tournament @ Meramec appears to well suited for the class 4 power, Sikeston Bulldogs.

The MSHSAA has changed the brackets in the quarter-finals of class 4. Sikeston has had an easy time reaching the final four in class 4 for the past several year but now that loophole has been closed. Vashon or St. Mary's will be waiting in the quarters. To defeat these teams, ( Who enroll some of the best talent in the city of St. Louis every year ) Sikeston must play a few teams as good as Vashon or St. Mary's to improve their chances to advance.

My friend Kelvin Lee exited out of the MICDS Christmas Tournament this season and will be playing in the Meramec Christmas this season to improve his chances to defeat Vashon in the class 4 sectionals latter on this season. St. Mary's most likely could have won the MICDS Tournament this year. St. Mary's can not defeat Webster and maybe SLUH @ Meramec but competing in a big arena can only help their chances to advance in the biggest game of the year when counts.

Rocket, am I wrong?
 
Last edited:
Metro....our schedule last year was "weaker" than this year. The Dogs will play AT Chaminade on January 10 (I believe), MICDS in the Cape Shootout, Whitfield and Father Tolton (the game was scheduled when the Porters were still there). There is also a chance that the Dogs will meet Helias at the Zum North tourney....besides playing in the grueling SEMO Conference night in and night out. We lost to Vashon in OT last year. With your reasoning, by strengthening our schedule, we should beat Vashon. I just don't think it's that easy...

Just because some of the teams the Dogs play in the Lou aren't "nationally ranked" or "state ranked," doesn't mean they are no good. We will have to agree to disagree on the competition... I'm not saying it's Murderers Row, but they are far from terrible.

And, as I've stated many times before (not to you), I will defer to the Hall of Fame coach as to how best prepare his team for a playoff run. I think he has earned the right to not be second-guessed in that respect.
 
Metro....our schedule last year was "weaker" than this year. The Dogs will play AT Chaminade on January 10 (I believe), MICDS in the Cape Shootout, Whitfield and Father Tolton (the game was scheduled when the Porters were still there). There is also a chance that the Dogs will meet Helias at the Zum North tourney....besides playing in the grueling SEMO Conference night in and night out. We lost to Vashon in OT last year. With your reasoning, by strengthening our schedule, we should beat Vashon. I just don't think it's that easy...

Just because some of the teams the Dogs play in the Lou aren't "nationally ranked" or "state ranked," doesn't mean they are no good. We will have to agree to disagree on the competition... I'm not saying it's Murderers Row, but they are far from terrible.

And, as I've stated many times before (not to you), I will defer to the Hall of Fame coach as to how best prepare his team for a playoff run. I think he has earned the right to not be second-guessed in that respect.

Rocket, I will bet you the Sikeston Bulldogs will clock 3 opponent in the St. Dominic Christmas Tournament if coach Holifield doesn't pull the plug on his rotation players. Chaminade is the only team mentioned on your list that could defeat Vashon. MICDS, Tolton, Whitfield and Helias are play toys for the likes of Vashon, Webster, Chaminade and maybe CBC. We must remember, Poplar Bluff (with Marcedus ) defeated Jennings by 15 plus points a couple of weeks ago. We do not have many really good team in St. Louis. Sikeston can defeat 90% of the St. Louis area teams.

You make a good point about Coach Holifield scheduling teams to get ready for districts and beyond however sometimes we must make changes as the MHSAA did in the class 4 quarter-finals.

Rocket, who are the top SEMO teams that make the Bulldogs schedule grueling? I see class 3 Charleston as a threat and class 5 Poplar Bluff as a major-major threat. I talked with a couple of Poplar Bluff's players when they were in St. Louis about beating Sikeston, the answer was, have you heard of Fred Thatch, he's good and I doubt if we can beat the Bulldogs.
 
Jackson is a good team, Cape normally has a very strong team, Bluff is very good, ND is traditionally good, but is down a little, New Madrid is 2 years removed from a Final Four team (down some this year), Charleston is always good... I'd say our conference is as tough as any in the state...on a normal year.
 
Jackson is a good team, Cape normally has a very strong team, Bluff is very good, ND is traditionally good, but is down a little, New Madrid is 2 years removed from a Final Four team (down some this year), Charleston is always good... I'd say our conference is as tough as any in the state...on a normal year.

Rocket, NMCC is class 4 school this year. This district appears to be growing or will they return back to class 3 in two years. My friends out Columbia really like the coach @ NMCC.
Rocket, does Fred Thatch Sr. know who you are? I will be asking Fred where you are sitting. You can expect a friendly hello from me before or @ the half of the Chaminade game on 1-10-17.
 
Metro....NMCC is still Class 3.

Yes, "Big Fred" and I are very good friends. I look forward to meeting you.

Also, let me correct my earlier post about our schedule... We play McCluer (not MICDS) at the Cape Shootout, and we play AT Miller Career. Also, forgot to mention, we play state-ranked Caruthersville...besides the other schools. I'd say our schedule is plenty tough...
 
metrodude seems to know what is best for the Sikeston Bulldogs. Please post suggestions of games they should pick up, while bearing in mind Sikeston can't PICK which tournaments they play in. They must be invited to play at Meremac. Metrodude needs to use his vast connections to get Sikeston an invite to this prestigious tournament. Apparently the new additions of Chaminade, Miller Career, McCluer, Father Tolton, Whitfield is not strong enough to prepare Sikeston for district play. This is the same discussion every year. metrodude must feel Hall of Fame coach Holifield is failing his teams by underscheduling. Metrodude, please give Coach Holifield a call and tell him how he is failing with this scheduling. Please tell him that you know what is best for his team and that he doesn't.
 
metrodude seems to know what is best for the Sikeston Bulldogs. Please post suggestions of games they should pick up, while bearing in mind Sikeston can't PICK which tournaments they play in. They must be invited to play at Meremac. Metrodude needs to use his vast connections to get Sikeston an invite to this prestigious tournament. Apparently the new additions of Chaminade, Miller Career, McCluer, Father Tolton, Whitfield is not strong enough to prepare Sikeston for district play. This is the same discussion every year. metrodude must feel Hall of Fame coach Holifield is failing his teams by underscheduling. Metrodude, please give Coach Holifield a call and tell him how he is failing with this scheduling. Please tell him that you know what is best for his team and that he doesn't.
mfloyd---District play will not be Sikeston's problem. I believe the sectional game will be Farmington and the Bulldogs are safe there as well but in the quarters is a whole different thing.
mfolyd and Rocket appears to believe playing those St. Charles County schools ( mostly with losing records ) are helping Sikeston achieve goals of advancing to the final four. Mloyd will try to justify all those 150 mile trips to St. Charles County as helpful. Sikeston has won 29 out of 30 games to date and I see 3-5 more clock jobs and 6 more wins this season. Mfloyd and Rocket believes this is great scheduling by Sikeston and some may agree with the Sikeston fans. I will name two coaches who has won many state championships and more on the way who schedule different then Sikeston.

Class 4 coaches Tony Irons ( Vashon ) and St. Mary's coach Kelvin Lee are trying to improve their schedule each year to improve their chances of advancing to the final four. St. Mary's coach Kelvin Lee took his team out of the 16 team MICDS Christmas this season and entered in the Coaches vs Cancer Christmas Tournament @ Meramec to play the top rated teams in St. Louis. ( Webster, SLUH, CBC, Hazelwood Central, Parkway West,Jennings, Kirkwood, Lindbergh and others. Kelvin Lee has won a few state championships. Tony Irons has won a few and these two coaches are not scheduling teams in St. Charles County.

Sikeston's, Vashon and St. Mary's do not have the same philosophy when making out their schedule. I happen to agree with Tony Irons and Kelvin Lee but that does not make the Sikeston's way of scheduling ( St. Charles County--29 out of 30 wins ) wrong because they has been successful in advancing out of districts over the past years however the " Loophole in the quarters for Sikeston has been closed. ) Sikeston must now defeat class 4 districts 3 or 4 in the quarter-finals. Vashon or St. Mary's will be waiting.

Mloyd and Rocket, It's alright to disagree and mosports is a discussion board.
 
Last edited:
mfloyd---District play will not be Sikeston's problem. I believe the sectional game will be Farmington and the Bulldogs are safe there as well but in the quarters is a whole different thing.
mfolyd and Rocket appears to believe playing those St. Charles County schools ( mostly with losing records ) are helping Sikeston achieve goals of advancing to the final four. Mloyd will try to justify all those 150 mile trips to St. Charles County as helpful. Sikeston has won 29 out of 30 games to date and I see 3-5 more clock jobs and 6 more wins this season. Mfloyd and Rocket believes this is great scheduling by Sikeston and some may agree with the Sikeston fans. I will name two coaches who has won many state championships and more on the way who schedule different then Sikeston.

Class 4 coaches Tony Irons ( Vashon ) and St. Mary's coach Kelvin Lee are trying to improve their schedule each year to improve their chances of advancing to the final four. St. Mary's coach Kelvin Lee took his team out of the 16 team MICDS Christmas this season and entered in the Coaches vs Cancer Christmas Tournament @ Meramec to play the top rated teams in St. Louis. ( Webster, SLUH, CBC, Hazelwood Central, Parkway West,Jennings, Kirkwood, Lindbergh and others. Kelvin Lee has won a few state championships. Tony Irons has won a few and these two coaches are not scheduling teams in St. Charles County.

Sikeston's, Vashon and St. Mary's do not have the same philosophy when making out their schedule. I happen to agree with Tony Irons and Kelvin Lee but that does not make the Sikeston's way of scheduling ( St. Charles County--29 out of 30 wins ) wrong because they has been successful in advancing out of districts over the past years however the " Loophole in the quarters for Sikeston has been closed. ) Sikeston must mow defeat class 4 districts 3 or 4 in the quarter-finals. Vashon or St. Mary's will be waiting.

Mloyd and Rocket, It's alright to disagree and mosports is a discussion board.
I guess if Sikeston could pick from the same player pool as Vachon they could win lot of state titles too. Can you imagine if they could pick who they wanted from Sikeston, Charleston, MMCC, Malden, Portageville Poplar Bluff, Cape, Jackson and all the smaller schools that have at least one outstanding player? :eek:
 
metrodude you need to call Coach Holifield and share your expertise on how to schedule. Please call him. You have all the answers and our basketball program desperately needs all the help from you that we can get. Please help poor Coach Holifield with this pitiful schedule that we have.
 
I guess if Sikeston could pick from the same player pool as Vachon they could win lot of state titles too. Can you imagine if they could pick who they wanted from Sikeston, Charleston, MMCC, Malden, Portageville Poplar Bluff, Cape, Jackson and all the smaller schools that have at least one outstanding player? :eek:

Thank you 3Rfan. We've had our disagreements in the past, but this couldn't be more true. Except it still wouldn't be a fair comparison. Vashon and others have a million to choose from. Our area would have, what, 75,000 to choose from.
 
Metro...Vashon's school is non-accredited so now kids from all over St. Louis can enroll there. Sikeston has limited boundaries from which to choose their players. This is an advantage given to schools similar to Vashon, but entirely within the rules. No amount of scheduling changes could "fix" that.
 
Last edited:
Metro...Vashon's school is non-accredited so now kids from all over St. Louis can enroll there. Sikeston has limited boundaries from which to choose their players. This is an advantage given to schools similar to Vashon, but entirely within the rules. No amount of scheduling changes could "fix" that.

Rocket--I agree with you on the legal advantages for our private high schools and school like Vashon. It appears schools like Vashon, CBC, Chaminade and St. Mary's are a run away train and could get stronger in the future. Our private schools are also a runaway train. They legally raid our large public schools like the Parkways, Rockwoods, Zumwalt, Howells and St. Louis city kids. CBC runs a bus downtown St. Louis daily to pick up kids attending CBC. Rocket, did you know Tyler Cook 6'9" attended Zumwalt North grade schools until his freshman year. Tyler Cook ( Iowa ) then enrolled @ Chaminade and joined forces with Jayson Tatum. That would have been something if he would have stayed @ Zum. North.Tyler Cook competing against Fred Thatch in the Zumwalt North Tournament.

Our St. Louis area coaches must work harder and know the talent in their middle schools as well as the private schools recruiters to compete with the private high schools who target students as low as the 3rd grade. I would suggest our coaches talk with their many elementary PE teachers who conduct fitness test. They will know who the future athletes are but our private school recruiters also know

The way I see it Webster and few more high schools are enrolling their better athletes but most of our larger high schools ( 2,000 or more enrollment ) are losing the battle with the rich and famous private schools. Not even Webster was able to enroll C. Gordon 6'9" one of the best 8th graders to ever come out of their junior high. Vianney won that battle and the enrollment however C. Gordon 6'9" is back @ Webster now and will be eligibility on 1-25-17.

Rocket, I must go on record that out private high schools are not breaking any rules by the MSHSAA and we must give them credit for their hard work.

I will be attending the Coaches vs Cancer @ Meramec and a couple of games @ MICDS. My main focus will be Kelvin Lee's team @ St. Mary's. who are undefeated and have the # 1 seed over Webster. I do not believe the " Kelvin group " can not defeat Webster and maybe SLUH but wants competition and to be behind in the score to see if they can come back and win. Kelvin Lee has Vashon on his mind and he's in it to win.
 
Metro...recruiting for athletic purposes, regardless of the situation, is against the MSHSAA guidelines. I don't think we should "give them credit" for breaking the rules. However, no one at MSHSAA seems to care. If I know about it, I'm positive MSHSAA does as well...as I'm certainly not "tuned in" to the St Louis high school hoops scene.
 
Metro...recruiting for athletic purposes, regardless of the situation, is against the MSHSAA guidelines. I don't think we should "give them credit" for breaking the rules. However, no one at MSHSAA seems to care. If I know about it, I'm positive MSHSAA does as well...as I'm certainly not "tuned in" to the St Louis high school hoops scene.

Rocket Are you tuned into Scott County Central enrolling Sikeston players who were cut from the Sikeston team? Some of these players enroll without changing residents. It appears to me the SCC advantage is on a high level of unfairness since the Braves compete against high schools with an enrollment of 100 or less in grades 9-12. If these Sikeston Kids are enrolling without moving, that is a violation of MSHSAA rules. My friends from Sikeston tell me he owns a house next door to one of the SCC player. He does not want to get involved and let's unfairness over rule fairness. He even attends a few SCC games each year and tells their fans how great they are.

The Private high schools across Missouri could take advantage of the MSHAA rules by targeting athletes but they say they are recruiting students who are welcome to try out for their sports teams. Many of these schools are " Catholic Schools " or Lutheran Schools. I find it difficult to find fault with these schools since the head of the these schools may be a " Priest ".

Here in St. Louis, our public grade schools and middle schools are not members of the MSHSAA. Since these St. Louis area kids can not play in there middle schools, the next options are to play @ a YMCA or a BOYS club. If any of these kids stand out, our private schools could place a " Target on their Back " as potential prospects to attend a private school. The academics in private schools are usually rated very high when compared to public high schools which could be used as a tool for recruitment.

To compete with the above our public school coaches must work even harder by attending YMCA and boys clubs games, shake a few hands and meet a few mid schools parents. I heard this story recently-----This St. Louis area high school coach attended a boys club game. The coach was told about this talented kid in one of the middle school in his district. The coach was excited after watching him play. The coach wanted to meet his parents. After meeting the parents of this very good 7th grader, The parent of the 7th grader ask the public school coach, " Do you know " Erwin Claggett " @ SLUH? We met Erwin a couple of month ago, he is a really nice guy. Coach Claggett wants me to call him, " Erwin ".
 
Last edited:
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT