It was an impressive couple of outings for the St. James boys’ basketball squad in non-conference games last week, as the Tigers blasted Cuba 70-35 at home Tuesday, Jan. 13 and whipped state-ranked Dixon 69-37 on the road Thursday, Jan. 15.

That gave St. James four wins in its last five games and improved its record to 8-5.
This week the Tigers are to host the St. James Boys’ Tournament Monday, Jan. 19 through Saturday, Jan. 24 at the St. James High gym.

Blair Oaks is the tournament’s top-seeded team while Rolla is seeded No. 2, St. James No. 3, Waynesville No. 4, Salem No. 5, Steelville No. 6 and Cuba No. 7.

In the first round Monday, Jan. 19 it was St. James vs. Steelville, Rolla vs. Cuba and Waynesville vs. Salem. Blair Oaks received a first-round bye.

Thursday, Jan. 22 , the Rolla/Cuba loser plays the St. James/Steelville loser at 5 p.m. in consolation action, and in the semifinals Blair Oaks will play the Waynesville/Salem winner at 6:30 p.m. while the Rolla/Cuba winner meets the St. James/Steelville winner at 8 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 24 the consolation final is set for 1:30 p.m., the third-place game for 4:30 p.m. and the championship game for 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 15 - STJ 69, Dixon 37: Dixon came into the game ranked No. 8 in last week’s Missouri Basketball Coaches Association’s Class 3 state poll. However, St. James grabbed the early lead and built on it the rest of the way. Senior guard Aiden Boone netted seven points and senior guard Tate Gruver six as the Tigers pulled out to a 19-10 advantage after one quarter. The Tigers clamped down the defense the rest of the half, limiting the Dixon Bulldogs to just five points in the second quarter, allowing St. James to grab a 36-15 halftime cushion.

The Tigers pulled away in the third period, outscoring Dixon 18-11 to increase their edge to 54-26 heading into the fourth quarter.

Four players scored in double figures for the Tigers, as Gruver had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists; sophomore guard Isaac Smith 16 points, Boone 14 points, six assists and six steals; and senior guard Nick Gleason 11 points and three steals.

Gruver moved past his brother, Peyton, into fourth place on the Tiger all-time scoring list.

St. James forced 17 Dixon turnovers.

Senior Drew Young led Dixon with 12 points.

St. James won the junior varsity game 64-47. Freshman Easton Huffman got 15 points and freshman Peyton Recker and sophomore Dom Giacolone 11 each.

The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):

Varsity
St. James (8-5): Boone 6-0-14, Gruver 8-0-18, Gleason 5-0-11, Smith 7-0-16, Bell 1-0-2, Meurer 3-0-6, J. Spurgeon 1-0-2, Totals 31-0-69.

Dixon (10-3): Tripp Holzer 2-1-6, Ford 1-0-3, Creamer 1-0-2, Young 4-3-12, Taylon Holzer 2-0-5, Doyle 1-0-3, Jacobs 2-0-4, Dodson 1-0-2, Totals 14-4-37.

The score by periods:

St. James 19 17 18 15-69

Dixon      10    5 11 11-37

Junior Varsity

St. James: Driskell 1-0-2, Ridenhour 1-1-3, O. Spurgeon 2-1-5, Deluca 2-1-5, Jones 4-0-8, Huffman 4-5-15, Jenkins 1-2-4, Recker 4-1-11, Giacolone 4-0-11, Totals 23-11-64.

Dixon: Wilson 1-0-2, Coday 2-0-5, Creason 3-2-11, Elliott 4-0-8, McBride 6-0-13, Hurst 1-3-5, Johnson 1-1-3, Totals 18-6-47.

Jan. 13 - STJ 70, Cuba 35: A torrid first half allowed St. James to roll over its Crawford County neighbor.

Smith fired in seven 1st-quarter points, as St. James took a 15-5 lead into the second period. It was all Tigers the rest of the half, as Gruver pumped in 11 points in the second quarter to help increase the Tiger halftime cushion to 39-12.

St. James led 52-27 entering the fourth quarter.

Gruver had 16 points, six steals, six assists and four rebounds; Smith 15 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the field with five assists, and Boone 14 points for the Tigers on six-of-eight shooting from the field and dished out four assists.

Junior Braden Gipson led Cuba with 10.

St. James easily won the JV game 72-15. Huffman netted 18 points, Giacolone 12 and Recker and sophomore Ryder Byfield 11 each. Senior forward JV Meurer went over 300 rebounds in his Tiger career.
The individual scoring:

Varsity
St. James: Boone 6-1-14, Gruver 7-1-16, Gleason 3-0-6, Smith 7-0-15, Bell 1-0-2, Martin 1-0-3, Ridenhour 1-0-2, O. Spurgeon 0-2-2, Meurer 4-0-8, J. Spurgeon 1-0-2, Totals 31-4-70.

Cuba (2-12): Halbert 1-0-2, Keogh 2-0-6, Carnal 3-2-9, Gipson 4-0-10, Noltkamper 2-1-5, Flores 1-0-3, Totals 13-3-35.

The score by periods:

Cuba          5   7 15   8-35

St. James 15 24 13 18-70

Junior Varsity

St. James: Ridenhour 3-0-6, O. Spurgeon 2-0-4, Jones 2-0-4, Huffman 8-0-18, Jenkins 1-0-2, Byfield 5-0-11, Brown 2-0-4, Recker 4-0-11, Giacolone 6-0-12, Totals 33-0-72.

Cuba: Adderley 1-0-3, Keogh 3-0-7, Jesse 2-0-5, Totals 6-0-15.