Where is the Best Basketball Played?

(St. Louis, MO) – There is a constant debate in the St. Louis area over where the best high school basketball is being played. Is it in the rugged Suburban North? For star power you can’t go wrong with the Metro Catholic Conference and what about the Suburban South where Webster has been so great for so long?

For my money, the best collection of teams, athletes and stellar rivalries you shouldn’t look beyond the Southwestern Conference in Illinois. In the latest STLhighschoolsports.com large school power poll four of the top ten teams are found just across the Mississippi.

Edwardsville is second to MCC member Chaminade, Alton is number four, Belleville East is seventh and East St. Louis is ninth. No other league even comes close in being represented in the power poll and those high rankings are deserved.

Southwestern Conference teams regularly send players do Division 1 and Division 2 college programs and this year is no different. Those four teams are a combined 28 and 8 outside the league and are beating the day-lights out of one another inside the conference.

The league has stars like Edwardsville’s dynamic scorers Shawn Roundtree and Armon Fletcher who both score over 17 points per game.  Those two both shoot free throws at a better than 85% clip and Roundtree is a dominating dime deliverer handing out over eight assists per game.

Head Coach Mike Waldo’s team isn’t just a two man show. Trevor Clay is the Tigers’ best three point shooter and Darius Cochrell and Darian Brown terrorize the opposition ball handlers combining for 8.5 steals per game. Edwardsville’s only loss came to Alton.

The SWC does have prolific scorers and play-makers, but what they do best is defend. No team in the league allows as much as 60 points per game and Edwardsville and Belleville East allow less than 50.

East St. Louis and Belleville East have coaches from “Floor Burn U” (Southern Illinois Carbondale) and know how to coach and motivate defensive stops. ESL’s Tony Young was one of the best collegiate defenders I have ever seen and Belleville East’s Abel Schrader was a part of those Bruce Weber led teams.

Alton’s first year coach Eric Smith obviously is pushing the right buttons but has a murderous schedule ahead. The Redbirds have games remaining with Belleville East, Edwardsville and St. Louis power Hazelwood Central.

Who could be better than the SWC? In my book, there isn’t one league in the metro area that comes close.

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