Local teams shine at Midwest Showcase

Kansas City, MO -  Some of the St. Louis area’s top high school girls’ basketball teams made the trip to Kansas City to compete in the Midwest Basketball Showcase at the HyVee Arena.

The event, which was presented by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, featured 33 schools from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

The St. Louis area was represented by Class 6 state champion Incarnate Word Academy, Class 4 state champion Vashon and a strong Cardinal Ritter College Prep team. The three teams had a combined 11-1 record over the two days of competition. Incarnate Word and Cardinal Ritter finished 4-0 while Vashon was 3-1.

What is most important about the event was that it was held during an open period, which meant that college coaches could come out to watch and evaluate the talent on hand. There were 42 college coaches from 29 different schools in attendance.

“The showcase is one of those events where you get more than a few things out of it, but the most important is exposure for your kids,” said Vashon head coach John Albert. “With schools like Mizzou, Saint Louis, Nebraska, Wichita State, Omaha and more there, it’s good for players that may not get this chance to play in front of all of these coaches. And I feel like our team got better in these two days to see what our team could look like for the season.”

A few of the St. Louis area players who were impressive during the event were sophomore Nevaeh Caffey and seniors Zoe Best and Kaylynn Janes from Incarnate Word, senior Chantel “Tutu” Clayton and junior Jasiayah Wallace of Vashon and senior Ai’Naya Williams and sophomores Alanah Howard and Keira Williams of Cardinal Ritter.