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Sports

Maplewood Richmond Heights Boys Poised For District Play

The Class 3 District 5 basketball tournament is in full swing this week at Maplewood Richmond Heights High School.

The Class 3 District 5 postseason basketball tournament ramps up Monday night at .

The nine-team district tourney actually began on Saturday afternoon as Cleveland NJROTC defeated Confluence Prep Academy Charter, 79-48, in the district’s only weekend matchup.  

Monday’s quarterfinals will feature: Metro vs. Construction Careers Charter (4 p.m.), Cleveland NJROTC vs. top-seeded Cardinal Ritter (5:30 p.m.), Brentwood vs. Carnahan (7 p.m.) and Maplewood Richmond Heights vs. Lift For Life Academy (8:30).

The Cleveland Commanders enter Monday with a 2-19 mark after snapping its 15-game losing streak on Saturday. Cardinal Ritter is 19-5 and is the tournament favorite along with Maplewood Richmond Heights. Cardinal Ritter went 12-0 in the AAA Conference this season, and the Lions have won 10 of their past 11 games.

Fans of Brentwood and MRH are advised to show up early enough on Monday to see Cardinal Ritter play. Every basketball fan in the St. Louis area has heard of , the metro area’s leading scorer at 32.8 points per game. But the area’s second-leading scorer is Cardinal Ritter junior Cameron Biedscheid, at 29 points per game. The 6-foot-7 forward also averages 8 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.7 blocks per game.

Metro, another Public High league squad, brings an 8-14 mark into its game against Construction Careers, which plays as a Missouri Independent.

Carnahan, the No. 6 seed, went just 2-6 in the Public High League, but will be a dangerous opponent for Brentwood as it features junior guard Roderick Amos. He is scoring 23.3 points per game, along with 3.4 steals.

Third-seeded Brentwood, meanwhile, has dropped seven of its past nine games. The Eagles did win their previous game, 68-62 over Hancock, to take fourth place at 4-6 in the South Central Athletic Association Conference. Brentwood is 9-13 overall. Senior guard Andrew Erby scored 23 points in that victory and leads Brentwood with 15.5 points per game.

The big question for the Eagles is the health of . He leads the team with averages 10 rebounds and 3.5 blocks, plus is scoring 9.8 points per game but has a hip injury. Cisse had to sit out the Hancock game, but is expected to play in districts.

For second-seeded MRH, head coach Corey Frazier is hoping that his team’s extremely tough nonconference schedule will pay dividends in the postseason. Although the Blue Devils are 14-11, they went 10-0 in the South Central A.A. for its and third straight undefeated season in the league.

Among the losses for MRH this season: Games against , , and Hazelwood Central. Plus, the Blue Devils played in three before the New Year.

Frazier regularly plays nine players a game but will rely heavily on senior guard Tony King, who leads the Blue Devils with 15 points and 2.4 steals per game. MRH likes to run with the ball and averaged more than 62 points per game in the regular season while allowing only 53.

MRH is deep in the backcourt, with junior Jake Hensel, senior Eric Liksa and sophomore Khlaid Hagens each play major minutes. Hensel averages 9.5 points and a team-best 3.7 assists per game. Liksa (9.7 points) has a team-high 38 made 3s and Hagens came in midway through the season to provide valuable scoring and defense.

Sophomore Aaron Spudich, 7.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and sophomore Aaron Collins (6.1 rebounds) provide most of the interior production for the Blue Devils.

The championship game will be played at 7 p.m. Friday. The winner of the district championship will play the winner of District 6 in state sectional play March 9.

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