Putting together three solid outings, the host St. James High Tigers captured third place in the 81st annual St. James Boys’ Basketball Tournament, held last week, Jan. 19-23, at the St. James High School and Middle School gyms.

Third-seeded St. James opened by beating sixth-seeded Steelville 69-35 in the first round Monday, Jan. 19 and lost to second-seeded Rolla 64-51 in the semifinals Thursday, Jan. 22 at the high school. Due to the winter storm, the boys’ final day of competition was moved up a day to Friday, Jan. 23 at the middle school, and St. James topped fifth-seeded Salem 75-53 in the third-place game.
Also Friday, fourth-seeded Waynesville clipped Steelville 45-43 in the consolation final and in the championship game matchup between state-ranked teams, Rolla won its third consecutive St. James Tournament title by beating top-seeded Blair Oaks 66-59. Rolla was tied for fifth in the latest Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 6 state poll while Blair Oaks was ranked No. 5 in the Class 4 poll.

It was the 12th championship for Rolla in the tournament, tying Sullivan for the most all-time. It’s Rolla’s ninth tourney title in the last 15 years - all under current Bulldog head coach Mark Miller.
All-Tournament Team: Senior guard Ethan Brown, who has signed to play for Illinois of the Big 10 Conference, was selected as tournament MVP for the third straight year. Also named to the all-tournament team were senior guards Tate Gruver and Aiden Boone of St. James; senior guard Jenson Thomas of Rolla; senior guard Hudson Moyer and senior forward Bennett Wilde of Blair Oaks, and senior guard Braiden Gapsch of Salem.

St. James, now 10-6 and winners of five of its last six games, was scheduled to compete in the Hermann Tournament this week, weather permitting.

Third-Place Game, Jan. 23 - STJ 75, Salem 53: In the battle of Tigers, St. James never trailed, going on a 12-4 run to close out the first quarter and grab as much as a 12-point lead. Holding a two-point edge, St. James got back-to-back three-pointers from senior guard Nick Gleason and sophomore guard Issac Smith. The STJ advantage would grow to as much as 12 points in the period with a driving layup by Boone with :44 left. Gapsch ended the quarter with a pair of free throws to cut Salem’s deficit to 21-11 entering the second quarter.

Midway through the second period Salem had closed to within four points. However, St. James again finished the quarter strong, and a 7-0 run upped its lead to 14. Smith hit a 10-foot runner in the lane following a Salem turnover to make it 36-22 with 2:02 left in the half. St. James went into intermission up 38-29.

St. James pulled away by doubling up Salem 24-12 over the third quarter and taking a 62-41 advantage into the final period.

Salem was forced into 17 turnovers, while St. James committed just seven. STJ also dished out 22 assists.

Gruver led St. James with 22 points while Boone scored 18, Gleason 14 and senior forward JV Meurer nine.

Gavin Sapaugh, a senior forward, had 19 points to pace Salem.

It was the third time this season St. James defeated Salem.

The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):

St. James (10-6): Boone 6-3-18, Gruver 9-2-22, Gleason 6-1-14, Smith 3-0-7, O. Spurgeon 1-0-2, Meurer 4-1-9, J. Spurgeon 1-0-3, 30-7-75.

Salem (11-7): Thomas 2-2-8, Halinar 2-0-4, Connors 2-0-4, Gapsch 2-2-7, Sapaugh 7-5-19, Wofford 5-1-11, Totals 20-10-53.

The score by periods:

Salem      11 18 12 12-53

St. James 21 17 24 13-75

Semifinals, Jan. 22 - Rolla 64, STJ 51: For the second time this season St. James gave Rolla fits before falling short. Rolla took a 16-10 lead after the first period and went into halftime up 31-22. The Bulldogs had a double-figure lead most of the second half, but couldn’t pull away from the pesky Tigers.
Rolla’s edge grew to as much as 15 points in the third period before St. James scored the final five points of the quarter. A three-pointer by Smith from the left corner trimmed St. James’ deficit to 48-38 entering the fourth quarter.

And a three-pointer by Boone with 6:02 remaining brought St. James back to within eight points, 51-43. The Tigers would get no closer, however, as Rolla closed the game with a 13-8 run.
Three Tigers scored in double figures, with Gruver and Smith each getting 11 points and Boone 10. Smith had six assists, three steals and three rebounds while Gleason dished out four assists.
Brown led Rolla with 24 points.

The individual scoring:

St. James: Boone 4-0-10, Gruver 3-2-11, Gleason 4-0-9, Smith 4-2-11, O. Spurgeon 1-1-3, Meurer 2-0-4, J. Spurgeon 1-1-3, Totals 19-6-51.

Rolla (16-2): Thomas 3-3-10, Richter 2-1-6, Gideon 4-0-10, Ledbetter 6-0-12, Brown 8-8-24, Smith 1-0-2, Totals 24-12-64.

The score by periods:

St. James 10 12 16 13-51

Rolla        16 15 17 16-64

First Round, Jan. 19 - STJ 69, Steelville 35: STJ scored the game’s first eight points and never trailed against the Steelville Cardinals. Boone canned a pair of free throws with eight seconds left in the first period to give the Tigers a 12-point lead. Steelville’s Nate Gambill drilled a 12-footer at the buzzer to cut its deficit to 20-10 entering the second quarter.

The Tigers would take control with a 22-point second period. A conventional three-point play by Boone at the 1:18 mark gave STJ its largest lead of the first half, 41-13. The Tigers went into intermission up 42-18.

St. James’ advantage would not dip below 18 points the rest of the way. And the Tigers ended the game with a 15-2 run.

Boone led the way with 23 points - including a 11-for-13 performance at the free throw line - with five steals and five assists while Gleason netted 16 points, Gruver 12 points and Smith had six assists and five steals.

No Cardinal scored in double figures.

The individual scoring:

St. James: Boone 6-11-23, Gruver 5-1-12, Gleason 6-3-16, Smith 1-0-2, Bell 1-0-2, O. Spurgeon 0-4-4, Meurer 1-5-7, J. Spurgeon 1-1-3, Totals 21-25-69.

Steelville (7-10): Woods 2-0-5, Garrison 1-1-3, Rutledge 1-0-2, Bruno 2-2-6, Gambill 3-1-8, Starbeck 2-1-5, Grayson 3-0-6, Totals 14-5-35.

The score by periods:

Steelville 10   8 12   5-35

St. James 20 22 10 17-69

Tournament Results

First Round, Jan. 19 - St. James 69, Steelville 35; Rolla 67, Cuba 27; Salem 53, Waynesville 50.

Consolation, Jan. 22 - Steelville 45, Cuba 43.

Semifinals, Jan. 22 - Rolla 64, St. James 51; Blair Oaks 66, Salem 31.

Finals, Jan. 23 - Consolation Final Waynesville 51, Steelville 35; Third Place St. James 75, Salem 53; Championship Rolla 66, Blair Oaks 59.