Midwest Showdown Shootout: Top performances, highlights from high school boys basketball tournament

Webster Groves freshman Scottie Adkinson among MVPs

OVERLAND, MISSOURI – The seven-game schedule for the 16th annual Midwest Showdown Shootout on Saturday at Ritenour High School included some of the top teams in Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

The 14-team field included seniors who have signed with Northwestern (Mount Carmel’s Angelo Ciaravino), Missouri State (Memphis Cordova’s Julius Thedford), Cal State Fullerton (East St. Louis’ Davis Bynum) and Drake (Cordova’s KJ Tenner) as well as several talented younger players who have picked up early scholarship offers.

Here is a look at each of the seven games on Saturday: 

Midwest Showdown Shootout recap

December 16, 2023

CORDOVA (MEMPHIS, TN.) 75, CARDINAL RITTER 64

The dynamic duo of Julius Thedford and KJ Tenner led the way as Cordova earned a victory in the final game of the day against one of Missouri’s top programs after trailing at halftime of the final game of the day.

Thedford, a 6-foot-4 senior guard who has signed with Missouri State, earned the game’s most valuable player honors after scoring a team-high 25 points. KJ Tenner, a 5-10 senior point guard who has signed with Drake, added 23 points.

Cardinal Ritter fell to 3-5 on the season. The Lions, who have won three state championships in the past four seasons, have played a rigorous national schedule that includes games against teams from Texas (three games), Illinois, Utah, Arkansas and now Tennessee.

CHAMINADE 65, MILLWOOD (OK.) 58

Chaminade used a balanced scoring effort – led by junior guard Madden Irving – with five players in double figures to pull out a clutch victory against the back-to-back Oklahoma Class 3A champions.

“We’ve got a talented group,” Chaminade coach Frank Bennett said. “We’re on the younger side and players are in new roles. So learning from wins is a good thing. We have a long ways to go and that’s a good thing, because greatness is on the other side of growth with this group. We have to do a lot of teaching, we have to do a lot of film, we have to do a lot of conversations, but to their credit they want it all. So we have to teach heavily so they can be where they need to be at the end of the year.”

Irving, who has rushed for 2,730 yards and scored 22 touchdowns as the Red Devils’ running back the past two seasons, led the scoring with 13 points and was selected as the game’s most valuable player.

Sophomore forward Jamison White and sophomore guard Tricy Collins each scored 11 points, while sophomore point guard Johnny Jordan and junior guard Jacob Robinson added 10 points apiece.

Millwood led 32-28 at halftime and 44-39 after three quarters before Chaminade erupted for 26 points in the fourth. The visiting Falcons made just two field goals in the final quarter.

Xon Williams, a senior swingman, led Millwood with 13 points, while sophomore guard Isaiah Wilks added 11 points. 

WEBSTER GROVES 69, CHICAGO (IL.) MOUNT CARMEL 66 OT

Freshman point guard Scottie Adkinson turned in one of the best performances of the day to lead Webster Groves to a thrilling overtime win against one of the top teams in Illinois in Mount Carmel.

The 6-3 freshman, who has early offers from Illinois and Missouri, scored a game-high 23 points, including four in the overtime period, and played strong defense on Mount Carmel’s Northwestern-bound Angelo Ciaravino to fuel his team’s comeback victory.

“When you put a freshman on their best player who is all-everything going to the Big Ten, you’re a little worried, but I think he embraces that and he wants that challenge,” Webster Groves coach Justin Mathes said. “That’s something that’s tough to simulate in practice, but you’re going to see it in March, you’re going to see it in the playoffs. Baptism by fire, in my opinion, and he didn’t back down from it.

“… Digging deep on the defensive end is what I was probably most proud of, but obviously he also made big-time plays offensively scoring the basketball – I don’t know how many assists he had, but it had to be quite a few, opened up our shooters and they made them pay.”

Webster Groves (4-2) senior forward Iziah Purvey, who has signed with Missouri-St. Louis, recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds and added four assists before fouling out in overtime. Carl Whitehead Jr., a junior guard, added 12 points.

The No. 5 team in the SBLive Illinois Power 25 rankings, Mount Carmel (11-2) had four players in double figures, led by senior forward Lee Marks (21 points).

Ciaravino, a 6-6 senior who has signed with Northwestern, had one of the top plays of the day with a monster dunk in the first half and finished with 14 points. Junior guards Grant Best and Cameron Thomas each added 11 points. 

DOUGLASS (OK.) 71, EAST ST. LOUIS (IL.) 64

Douglass, the reigning Oklahoma Class 4A champions, leaned on its talented group of juniors and earned a tough win against East St. Louis in the fourth game of the Shootout.

Davon Scott, a 6-3 junior guard, knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points on his way to earning the game’s most valuable player award.

Jaden Williams, a 6-3 junior guard, scored 15 points in the win and Landry Ballard Jr., a 6-1 junior guard, added 14 points.

“I think the boys showed a lot of maturity,” Douglass coach Steven Alexander Jr. said. “I kind of relied a little bit more on my older guys because I knew that it would be a really physical game and they came in and they played strong. But it took a whole, collective effort for us. That team is really good. So we know that that win is really big for us because we plan on them having a good season and us as well. But the small things are what won us the game tonight – blocking out, taking care of the basketball – doing the small things that make big wins.”

Senior forward Taylor Powell (21 points and eight rebounds) and senior guard Robert McCline (18 points with four 3-pointers) led East St. Louis (5-3), while junior guard Montreal Stacker added 15 points.

JOHN BURROUGHS 70, FATHER TOLTON 62

Owen Walther knocked down seven 3-pointers in the first half and finished with a game-high 23 points to lead John Burroughs to a signature win over Father Tolton.

Walther, a 6-3 junior guard, is averaging a team-high 15.3 points per game this season and has made 33 3-pointers already. He is the son of Chip Walther, who earned accolades as a basketball, football and baseball player at Burroughs in the early 90s before playing basketball at the University of Missouri.

“Owen works out in the summer with Jordan Goodwin, who plays with the Phoenix Suns, Brandon McKissic, who plays at Greece in the first league, and Javon Pickett (former Missouri and Saint Louis University guard),” Burroughs coach PeeWee Lenard said. “He comes in the gym and he goes when I work out with those guys … and he’ll do two-a-days. Owen does not have any fear of coming in that gym and putting the work in. Then he has his dad, Chip, who comes in the gym and he gets shots up all the time. We’ve worked on his ballhandling. Last year he was 5-11 and he’s 6-3 now, so he’s grown. He gets that shot off so fast.”

Senior guard Ramzi Salem added 17 points, including sinking seven of 10 free throws. Sheek Pearson, a 6-9 sophomore forward, added 12 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Tristan Reed, a 6-8 sophomore forward, added eight points, six blocked shots and five rebounds despite limited playing time due to early foul trouble.

Burroughs led 22-13 after one quarter and 42-27 at halftime. Tolton (2-2), led by junior guard Zay Wilson (team-high 17 points), outscored the Bombers 15-11 in the third quarter and 20-17 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t complete the comeback attempt.

“Hats off to Tolton,” Burroughs coach PeeWee Leonard said. “They are very well-coached. They have some terrific players. They are bigger than I thought they were. They are pretty big. They’ve got some massive kids and they are very physical.”

“It was a great test for my young kids,” the coach added. “Tristan (Reed) doesn’t turn 16 until the 27th of this month, so he’s still 15 years old. Then Sheek (Pearson) turned 15 in May. So they are young guys. We’re just continuing to humble ourselves and keep working and I’m just so proud of the guys, that they are embracing it and want to get better every day.” 

MONTGOMERY COUNTY 70, ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY HIGH 50

Jacob Stellwagen and Clayton Parker combined for 52 points as Montgomery County, playing its third game in three days and fourth game of the week, pulled away in the second half to beat St. Louis U. High.

Stellwagen, a 6-2 senior guard who transferred from Verona, scored a game-high 27 points on eight 3-pointers and three free throws (after being fouled on a 3-point attempt). He was selected as the game’s most valuable player.

“He took some really good shots today,” Montgomery County coach Scott Kreoger said. ‘He’s had opportunities in his career where he’s been given the ultimate green light and can take bad shots – we’re trying to kind of hone that in – and once he takes good shots you can see what kind of shooter he is. He does that all the time. That’s what he does in practice. That’s what he does on his own. He shoots.”

Parker, a 6-8 junior forward, scored 25 points and knocked down a pair of 3s.

“He’s obviously a very tough player,” Kreoger said. “He’s worked his freaking tail off his whole life to be what he is and his two older brothers beat the crap out of him his whole life to make him what he is. His two older brothers start at Columbia College. His middle brother, Collin, is on track to be the all-time leading scorer there. So it’s a basketball family. His dad was an All-American in college at Blackburn. It’s a basketball family. … He’s had a little bit of an up and down start to the season, but once he figures it out and gets a feel for the game you can see he just has an extreme impact in a lot of ways on the game. So big credit to him.”

Landon Pace, a 6-4 junior forward, led SLUH with 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

Montgomery County improved to 7-3. SLUH fell to 1-6.

RITENOUR 59, MADISON (IL.) 29

Tai-Shaun Ewing scored 19 points to lead the host Ritenour Huskies past visiting Madison in the first game of the day.

Ewing, a 6-2 junior guard, earned the game’s most valuable player honors as Ritenour improved to 3-6 on the season. 

See: SBLIVE SPORTS BOYS BASKETBALL COVERAGE

Midwest Showdown Shootout photo gallery

Photos from Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

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