Hazelwood West Wildcats Midweek Sports Roundup

It’s been a sensational past seven days for the athletics program, as it nears the end of the winter sports season and quickly approaches the start of the spring season.

The Wildcats did a whole lot of winning, in several sports, this past week, including advancing two wrestlers to the state championships, several big basketball wins, and a at the conference swim meet for the varsity girls.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Hazelwood West hadn’t won a Suburban North Conference championship in girls swimming in more than a decade, according to head coach Tara Weiss, but the Lady Wildcats went into last week’s meet believing they had a chance to win.

And they almost did, finishing a close second to three-time champion Pattonville.

Hazelwood West won five of the 12 swimming events, including the 200 meter medley relay, and individual wins in the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyles for junior Julia Nichols, and the 200 meter individual medley and 100 meter backstroke for senior Samantha Zaiz.  

The Lady Wildcats also got strong showings from junior Alexis Bee, who finished second in the diving competition, and freshman Anna Schreck, who took second in the 100 meter butterfly and the 100 meter backstroke.

WRESTLING

Senior wrestler Antoine White raised his individual record to 25-0, and won the 119-pound championship at the Class 4 District 2 Championships at McCluer North last Saturday.

White pulled out a thrilling 5-4 decision over archnemesis Ben Henson of Francis Howell Central in the district championship match, and will head to this weekend’s state championships ranked No. 2 in the state in his weight class.

White is considered one of the favorites to win state this year, after he finished fifth in the 103-pound competition in 2009 and fifth again in the 112-pound tournament last year.

Freshman teammate Daniel Vaughn also earned a trip to this weekend’s state wrestling championships. He took fourth in the 285-pound weight class at McCluer North, and will face one of the state’s top grapplers, Jeff City’s J.J. Johnson (41-1), in his first match on Thursday.

Fans can watch White and Vaughn compete at the state championships live and for free through MSHSAA’s online webcast of the event at www.mshsaa.tv.

BOYS BASKETBALL

The varsity boys basketball team picked up two big wins and a loss, after playing three games in four days over the weekend and Monday.

The Wildcats held off a pesky Pattonville team for a 56-44 on Friday, then played one of its worst games of the season in a 65-41 home loss to Soldan on Saturday, but rebounded with a 77-36 blowout win at St. Charles on Monday.

Coach Cary Lewis and his squad are 16-7 this season, and will be back in action tonight, when Hazelwood West takes on Parkway Central in a key nonconference matchup at Central.

Tipoff tonight is at 7 p.m., and fans should be sure to come back to Hazelwood Patch  for a full story about the game tomorrow..

GIRLS BASKETBALL

The busiest team at Hazelwood West recently, has been the varsity girls basketball team. The Lady Wildcats have played seven games in the last 11 days, thanks to a number of make-up games after all the snow-outs in late January and early February.

Unfortunately, all that game action seemed to take a toll on the Hazelwood West girls, who .

During the past week alone, the Lady Wildcats suffered near-miss losses against St. Charles (54-43), Pattonville (68-57) and Eureka (63-61).

West did get back on the winning track last night though, knocking off Wentzville Holt 71-43. Senior Shakaunna Oliver-Futrell had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win, while teammates Araka Norwood and Mia Williams added 11 points apiece, as the Lady Wildcats improved to 12-9 on the season.

Like the boys team, the Lady Wildcats will play Parkway Central tonight, then close the regular season with a game against Suburban North rival McCluer on Thursday.

The 2011 Missouri State Basketball Playoffs will begin for both the boys and girls teams next week. The Wildcat teams, are both the No. 2 seed in their respective districts and will compete in Class 5 District 5, which will be hosted by DeSmet High.

Both Hazelwood West teams received a bye in the first round and will play in the district semifinals.

The Wildcat boys are scheduled to play on Wednesday, Feb. 23, against the winner of the Parkway Central/Ritenour first round game, while the Lady Wildcats will play the winner of a first round matchup between Parkway Central/Pattonville on Thursday, Feb. 24.

Hazelwood Patch will have a full district baskeball playoff preview this Saturday.