Which Is The Toughest District?

(St. Louis, MO) – District play begins in two weeks and I’m wondering which is ‘the district of death’ in 2014? Each year we preview these districts to decide which teams have the toughest road to the ensuing play off rounds.

Today’s discussion is centered on the largest (Class 5) school match ups.

District match-ups often resemble the end of the conference season like District 7 where every team is from the Suburban North or Districts 5 & 6 where the participants are all Gateway Athletic Conference teams.

But where is the “district of death” as Jim Powers coined it during the old radio version of the ‘High School Sports Caravan’?  Is it District 8 where powerful and top ranked Chaminade and sophomore sensation Jayson Tatum wait? Joining the Red Devils is Ladue and outstanding point guard Cornell Johnston, the improving St. Louis U High Billikens under the tutelage of Head Coach Erwin Claggett.

District 3 finds CBC and Texas recruit Jordan Barnett and two very solid Parkway schools (Central & West) that can jump up and bite very good teams.  Both of those schools have some impressive wins and very talented players that have kind of flown under the radar.

If we look purely at winning percentages, Districts 8 & 4 have the best collective winning percentages. District 8 led by Chaminade has a collective winning percenatage of 61%. If you eliminate the two weaker teams (Ritenour & Riverview) you have an astounding 50-14 record spread between the Red Devils, Ladue and SLUH.

District 4 is more balanced if not as prolific. No team is worse than two games under .500 and only Webster is more than 6 games over that mark. Clearly the Statesmen will be the number one seed, but Kirkwood and Vianney are dangerous squads. The Pioneers are athletic and deep and the Golden Griffins have fresh memories of play off success.

Dave Kvidahl the outstanding writer for stlhighschoolsports.com writes concerning District 7  “The Suburban North bloodbath, will be brutal. McCluer North has been on a roll and, if you look closely, hasn’t had a terrible loss all season. They’ve had some internal things going on but if they can put those aside and focus on the court, they will give Hazelwood Central a run for the title. The Hawks, however, should be the top seed and heavy favorite. But that means nothing when you’re playing your rivals.”

Paul Ellis of the current on line version of the ‘High School Sports Caravan’ says, “Districts are very balanced this year with the toughest district in District 8.  Chaminade, Ladue and SLUH are all contenders and Erwin Claggett has SLUH playing as well as anyone. Sleeper player is Cornell Johnston- best player under 6′ in the state!”

The former high school and college coach, turned broadcaster went on to say, “that District 4 will be fun to watch as Webster, Vianney and Kirkwood battle it out!”

Next week “Prep Sports Showcase” will host a coaches’ show with Jay Blossom of Webster Groves and Bill Gunn of Kirkwood and we’ll bring you video from that show here on ‘Valley Hoops Insider”.

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