West Newsmagazine 3-21-18

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March 21, 2018
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sports
briefs
By WARREN MAYES
High school boys basketball
Whitfield senior Torrence Watson is the
2017-18 Gatorade Missouri Boys Basketball
Player of the Year.
Watson is the first Gatorade Missouri
Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be
chosen from Whitfield.
The award, which recognizes not only
outstanding athletic excellence, but also
high standards of academic achievement
and exemplary character demonstrated on
and off the field, distinguishes Watson as
Missouri’s best high school boys basketball
player.
Watson now is a finalist for the prestigious
Gatorade National Boys Basketball
Player of the Year award to be announced
later this month.
The 6-foot-4, 175-pound senior guard
led the Warriors to a 21-8 season and a trip
to the Class 3 state quarterfinals. One year
after leading the St. Louis metro area in
scoring, Watson repeated the feat, averaging
31 points along with 6.7 rebounds and
2.8 assists per game.
A four-time Class 3 All-State honoree,
Watson eclipsed 2,500 points for his high
school career, finishing with 2,755.
Watson keeps busy away from the competitive
arena as an active parishioner at
the Peoples Community Christian Church
and as an instructor at the Whitfield
Summer Basketball Camp in addition to
donating his time to charitable initiatives
such as the No One Hungry program at
Thanksgiving.
Watson joins recent Gatorade Missouri
Boys Basketball Players of the Year
Jared Ridder [2016-17, Kickapoo High];
Jayson Tatum [2015-16, 2014-15 and
2013-14, Chaminade College Preparatory];
Kyle Wolf [2012-13, Rockhurst
High]; Cameron Biedscheid [2011-12,
Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory];
Whitfield senior Torrence Watson has been named Gatorade Missouri Boys
Basketball Player of the Year. [Whitfield School photo]
Bradley Beal [2010-11 and 2009-10,
Chaminade College Preparatory]; Alec
Burks [2008-09, Grandview High];
Kramer Soderberg [2007-08, St. Charles
West High]; and Conner Teahan [2006–
07, Rockhurst High]; among the state’s
list of former award winners.
As a Gatorade Player of the Year, Watson
will be able to select a national or local
youth sports organization to receive a grant
as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward
program.
Every Gatorade Player of the Year state
winner receives a $1,000 grant to donate
and will have the opportunity to enter for
an additional $10,000 spotlight grant by
writing a brief essay explaining why their
selected organization deserves additional
support. 12 spotlight grants – one for each
sport – will be announced throughout the
year.
High school hockey
A big high school hockey tournament is
coming to St. Louis.
The 2018 America’s Showcase takes
place April 19-23 in St. Louis and features
more than 30 teams from over 20 states
and regions across the United States.
The tournament, which began in Chicago,
has been held in Pittsburgh in recent years.
This year’s Showcase team is open to any
junior or senior currently playing in the
Mid-States Club Hockey Association or
the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association
who is in good standing with their
team and league, and who also participated
in a minimum of 50 percent of their high
school club’s games. Participants should
be considering playing hockey after graduating
high school.
Team Missouri is highly regarded for
consistently sending a very competitive
team and again looks to do so in 2018.
Many players from Missouri’s teams
have received correspondence from organizations
across the country and some still
are playing on teams as a direct result of the
Showcase. The teams from the recent past
resulted in every player being contacted
and offered an opportunity to continue
hockey after high school. Some players
have capitalized on those opportunities and
currently are playing collegiate and junior
hockey all over North America.
This year, Team Missouri’s coaching
staff consists of Reed Low, Jon Rogger and
Chris Durso.
Low’s passion and excitement toward
the team and the opportunities it offers
young men is unmatched. As a former Blue,
Low fought, literally and figuratively, for
every opportunity he was afforded in his
professional career. He is a textbook late
bloomer as a teenage player and his past
experiences relate to the players.
St. Louisan Rogger participated in the
Showcase as a player in the mid-90’s and
was given the opportunity to play Division
1 hockey at Ferris State. Since coaching the
Missouri Showcase team from 2006-2008,
Rogger has coached as an assistant and
head coach in the North American Hockey
League and the U.S. Hockey League, and
currently is with the Philadelphia Revolution
Junior A Team of the Eastern Hockey
League. Rogger’s knowledge and contacts
on a national level are an asset to the players.
Durso has been on the coaching staff for
the Showcase team for the past three years.
He currently is the varsity head coach at
De Smet Jesuit and the director of player
development for Missouri Hockey.
• • •
The Mid-States Club Hockey Association
all-star games were a last chance for area
seniors to play in their high school uniforms.
The North Conference game was held at